Ghostly Reunions
by Phantom Trainer
Summary: After saving a ghost from the guys-in-white, Danny gets captured himslef! When Vlad gets word of this, how far is he willing to go to save him? And what will this do to their relationship?
1. Chapter 1: How It All Began

**Phantom: Awesome! My very first fanfiction. I'm so excited! *Looks around for something* Where do I start?**

**Trainer: How about with the intro…**

**Phantom: RIGHT! Welcome to the very first chapter of Ghostly Reunions! For those of you who are about to read, PLEASE MAKE NOTE: there will be references to Pearl84 and TruePhan's fanfictions, so if you haven't read them, ESPECIALY **_**Checkmate**_** AND **_**Seeing Is Disbelieving**_**, then you won't get what I'm talking about! Would you like to do the honours sis?**

**Trainer: *clears throat* Hello everyone! It is my pleasure to start off our first Danny Phantom fanfc, preferably with a bang…where are my pokeballs?**

**Phantom: Oh, I took them. I didn't want you destroying this fanfic with fire or anything, especially before it was done.**

**Trainer:*Trainer glares at Phantom* HOW DARE YOU STEAL THEM! My partners…*sniff***

**Phantom: Any ways, enough talk! Time for our favourite hero to take the stage! *whispers* and don't tell Trainer, but I'll give back her pokeballs at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom and any references to Checkmate and Seeing Is Disbelieving belongs to Pearl84 and TruePhan, but this plot is my own.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: How It All Began**

* * *

Life isn't easy for teenagers with the problems they face every day; relationships, high school, acne, not to mention trying to keep a social status, but for one kid, these are the last things on his mind…at least half the time. Amity Park was winding down after another hard filled day, well, all except for one resident.

*Bam*

Blasting through a wall of boxes, a teenager flew after his target…that's right…FLEW! It's just another typical day in Amity Park; everything is well and good until someone from the Ghost Zone decides to show up and cause some havoc in the human world. Usually these ghosts just appear to have what they call "pure entertainment", but most call it "haunting" or "invading other's territory". And these ghosts would have their way too, if it wasn't for one teenager…

*Bam, Bam*

A pudgy male ghost burst through the eerie night sky over Amity Park, but not before a green beam shot past the little man's hat. The man stopped and turned around. "I AM THE BOX GHOST! YOU CANNOT STOP ME WITH YOUR CYLINDRICAL CONTAINER!" shouted the Box Ghost.

"Dude, it's called the _Fenton Thermos_," he said before pausing and then adding smugly, "and yes, I can stop you with it." Then the owner of the voice suddenly…disappeared in a puff of green smoke before he reappeared behind the Box Ghost. The young teenager smirked with his newly acquired ability, but it brought back some painful memories. The ghost teen shook his head and banished the thought. Focusing back on what he was doing, he tapped the other ghost's back.

Turning around, the Box Ghost was surprised to see the ghost boy. Now the ghost boy was a real sight! Hair as white as snow, skin the colour of a normal human, and glowing green eyes. True, he didn't really look all that much like a ghost, but that's what made him one of a kind. To some at least.

Trying to maintain his composure, the Box Ghost became as menacing as he could, which wasn't very much at all. Staring still slightly in disbelief, the Box Ghost shouted, "BEWARE" before the ghost boy pulled out something that looked like a soup thermos.

With a quick press of a button, the seemingly harmless thermos produced a blinding bluish-white light before pulling the other ghost into the container. With a small sigh, the teenager put a cap on the still smoking device. In reality, the thermos was a ghost capturing device made to look inconspicuous, and it really worked!

The ghost boy looked at the ghost gadget in his hand before a small triumphant grin started to spread across his face. "Phantom one, Box Ghost zero…again," he said smugly, but then added, "seriously, how many times do I have to shove you into this thing before you get this through your head? You cannot beat me." And with that, he put the thermos away and started to aimlessly just continue to float where he was.

With everything that had happened recently, capturing any ghost, **even Box Ghost**, was a huge victory! Everything was going great…better than great, things were AWESOME! Phantom was on a good streak; his grades were at a steady B+ average, he was kicking major ghost butt, _**and**_ his secret was still intact!

Phantom, or as most know him as '_Danny Phantom'_, isn't your average ghost…he's not even entirely a ghost. He _**was**_ a normal human boy, just trying to survive high school and maybe even get a girlfriend. But that's, for the most part, history now. You see, his name is actually Danny '_Fenton_'. An accident several months ago landed him inside a ghost portal his parents had been developing, and one thing leads to another, and voila: instant half ghost!

Looking back on it now, Danny is almost glad that he had his accident. As Fenton, he was always the social outcast; the only people really staying by him all the way were his two best friends and sister. When they each found out about his secret, they supported him, became his strength and reason when he didn't know what to do.

Well that did it, Danny's laid back attitude just increased tenfold, and the grin on his face proved it. As he gazed up at the stars above him he let out a soft sigh. Why he did that, not even he knew, but he was glad he did.

After his accident, life got a lot harder for him. He had taken upon himself the responsibility of protecting his home from any ghost that dared to enter into his territory, even someone as weak as the Box Ghost. Sure, it gave him more confidence, but there were times when he wished things could be different…were he wasn't the one protecting but rather the one being protected…like with…him.

"_No,"_ Danny thought as he shook his head in an attempt to banish the thought. "_We all made our choices, there's no turning back from them. We…have to keep moving forward."_ He thought with creased eyebrows. Closing his eyes briefly to focus his mind, but they were drawn back up to the stars.

Then a memory floated into his mind, but he couldn't shake it.

_"I have never seen anyone look at the sky the way you do, Daniel."_

As the memory passed, Danny kept his eyes shut in an attempt hold back his tears. Finally opening his tear glazed eyes, Danny continued to float around focusing on the positives of his life.

"_Ok, other than the downs of my life, it's pretty good,"_ he thought with his smirk slowly returning. _"I mean, 'Ghost Hunting' is just getting too easy! Nothing could go wrong now. My friends help me with hunting, and Jazz continuously gives me support, not to mention covering for my absences."_ He thought before finally closing his eyes again.

What Danny didn't notice, being that his attention was fully on catching the Box Ghost and his current thoughts, was the familiar warm tingling feeling that swelled in his chest. If he only knew that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was.

* * *

Flying through the night sky, a certain blue skinned, black haired, male ghost approached his destination. The bright neon green sign that read "Fenton Works" practically screamed _"I hunt ghosts."_

As the ghost hovered outside the building he noticed a small glowing object approaching with no specific destination in mind, judging by the fact that it was moving in all directions.

"_Right on cue," _thought the older ghost.

The Box Ghost was making his usual trip through Amity Park, once again not caring if he ran into the infamous Ghost Boy. But who he didn't expect to see suddenly stopped him.

With eyes widened, Box Ghost looked back at the other ghost instantly recognizing him. "VLAD PLASMIUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the Box Ghost screamed with a mixture of surprise and fear.

Yes, Vlad Plasmius is a very well-known ghost, both in the human world and Ghost Zone. But not for the usual reasons. Sure ghosts would build a reputation by a means of fear or respect through their powers, but Vlad had another reason…he was the **original** half-ghost. With twenty years of experience under his belt, he is probably one of the most powerful ghosts in existence.

Twenty some-odd years ago, Vlad had been working with Danny's parents on the very first ghost portal. An accident with the portal caused Vlad to be hospitalized until his "illness" cleared up. And it cleared, but not before the **human** Vlad Masters became half ghost, giving him his alter-ego; Vlad Plasmius.

Holding down a shutter from the memory, Vlad looked back at the smaller ghost before rolling his eyes at the other ghost's obvious reaction to seeing Vlad.

"Do you ever stop shouting?" Vlad asked with a board expression. In all reality, he was suppressing his own rising anger at how annoying this ghost could be. _"How can Daniel even keep calm around this…this…imbecile?"_ he thought, barely with-holding his fury. He then added, "_I would waste him if he wasn't going to be so useful."_

Getting the Box Ghost's attention again, he then spoke with his usual superior attitude, "I need you to do something for me," and when the pudgy ghost just stared back at him, he sighed in annoyance, but continued. "I need you to fly closer to that window," and as he pointed, Box Ghost looked towards it, not knowing that the window lead to Danny's room, "and get the person inside to wake-up. That shouldn't be too hard, the boy who lives there is sure to react quickly to your presence. Just don't mention me and all will go smoothly." Vlad said with a smirk.

But then to himself he added, "_Well, for me it will go smoothly. For the Box Ghost…well, he will find out soon enough."_

The Box Ghost did as he was instructed and went to the window. Just like Vlad said, the boy in the room reacted almost immediately. He awoke with a gasp as a cold wisp of air eked out of his mouth before he grabbed his already spinning head.

"Oh come on! Can't I even get a break for one night?" Danny said with restrained frustration as two white rings appeared around his waist and travelled in opposite directions, turning him into his alter-ego. Wanting nothing more than to **NOT **go out to catch the ghost that woke him, he knew he had to…I mean, who else could?

As Danny turned intangible and flew through his window, he stopped and saw that the ghost that woke him from his sleep had been Box Ghost.

"YOU? You woke me up in the middle of the night?" Danny asked with his anger clearly showing in his voice.

Box Ghost quickly flew away, not wanting to find himself on the other end of the child's fist. But as he flew off, Danny stayed where he was for a moment trying to figure out why the ghost had even bothered showing himself.

Suddenly, another thought crossed the young half-ghost's mind, which showed on his face. With a gleam in his eyes, he raced forward to catch up with the peculiar ghost saying, "Hello misplaced aggression."

Vlad couldn't help but chuckle at the scene that just unravelled in front of him. _"So that's how he deals with this ghost. Box Ghost is practically his personal punching-bag,"_ Vlad mused to himself before flying after the pair that just left.

* * *

Vlad continued to follow the fighting duo across the night sky at a safe distance, that is, until Danny finally caught the Box Ghost in his thermos. As he continued to watch, he noticed something…peculiar.

Danny looked almost…troubled. He just continued to stare at the stars, but then he closed his eyes…like he was in some sort of pain…or maybe, he was distressed about something. Vlad flew closer to find out.

Danny, on the other hand, continued to stare towards the sky, totally oblivious to the being slowly approaching. *sigh* Danny felt totally confused at times, but this time it just…he didn't even know anymore. One minute he felt awesome, and the next…the next he would remember something that just tore him up inside.

"_Sometimes I wish I didn't have these powers,"_ he thought to himself, "that I didn't have all these…" he started out loud, only to be interrupted before he could finish.

A pink beam of energy shot towards him and hit him square in the chest. With a cry of pain, Danny was pushed several feet back. Considering that he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, Danny was caught at the worst time…when his guard was down.

"Responsibilities?" a voice said before another beam shot out of nowhere.

Trying to regain some sense of the situation, Danny gripped his chest hoping to limit the amount of pain he now had. "_What…what just…hit me?"_

But his question was soon answered by another pink beam hitting him in his stomach. Spinning wildly out of control, Danny immediately tried to straighten his flight path. As he stopped, he unwillingly let out a soft groan of pain before grabbing his no throbbing stomach in one hand and his spinning head in the other.

Out of the quiet atmosphere came the same voice from before. "Really Daniel, have you learned **nothing** from our past encounters?" the smug voice said to the still dazed teenager.

Knowing from experience, Danny could tell that the owner of the voice was very close, probably right in front of him too. If only he knew how right he was. Vlad Plasmius currently stood inches from his younger counter-part's hovering form. Vlad was so pleased with his being able to sneak up on his young adversary, especially since Daniel had recently learned how to sense him from their five months together. Vlad instantly frowned at the memory that came into his mind.

What Vlad didn't know was that Danny too was having the exact same memory. Not really all that surprising considering where they were. They had been hovering at the town's clock tower, the same place that they had made their final confrontation until now.

_"Do you regret your choice of betraying me and returning to your life of secrecy and chaos, Daniel? If so…, my offer still stands; except that, it will not be… should I say, 'free of charge', this time? There are strings attached to my offer now, many more than before…"_

_"My offer still stands, too, Vlad."_

_Vlad's eyebrows rose up, clearly surprised by Danny's sudden change in attitude; but seeing that defiant and hopeful fire in his eyes was somehow extremely pleasing to him._

_A daring grin spread across the older hybrid's face as he asked, "Is that a challenge?"_

_"Yeah, it is, Plasmius," Danny answered, matching the man's look._

Finally focusing on what had just happened, Danny looked up to see what, or more precisely **who**, had just used him for target practice. But the sight of the older hybrid shocked him as the memory that had started in his head continued. Plasmius didn't even notice at first, since he too was still caught up in the same memory. But his expression had melted into one of longing, not that Danny had noticed either.

_"Don't try to deny it, Plasmius. I've seen that there's still good in you, and I know all I have to do is keep fighting against you. So, go ahead. You can keep resisting all you want, but eventually, I will win. I will save you from what we both know you're not. And you know how I can be so sure? Because you want it, too. You want badly what I'm still offering you. And this… bond we have in here," he said, pointing at his chest, "will serve to remind you of that fact each and every day."_

_Danny leaned closer and assured Vlad with a growing smile, "You are not a villain. You are a good man that just wants to be loved and accepted. And you might try to prove otherwise, but you won't be able to ignore that side—the real side—of you forever. I will save you—whether you want me to or not."_

Finally coming out of his shock, Danny floated back as if avoiding a wild animal. His eyes wide at the sight of the older man, Danny didn't know what to think. _"Why is Vlad here?"_ he thought, his mind trying to come up with a good reason. Finding his voice, he said the only thing that he could think of, although some of his frustration leaked out as he said it, "Plasmius." Danny instantly frowned, realising that it was Vlad who had been shooting at him. _"Wasn't it bad enough that I had been thinking of him?" _he groaned mentally as Vlad came out of his own thoughts.

Looking back at the teen, Vlad finally noticed that the boy had backed away from slightly, which put a small grin on his face. Danny still looked confused, and he really was, but partly from the fact that everything was still spinning for him. Vlad's attacks had really dazed the boy.

Noticing the younger hybrid was still holding his head, it didn't take long for Vlad to understand that Danny was still dazed. The older hybrid looked at Danny like a hunter does its' prey, trying to decide from what angle he would approach the boy from. Would he just attack him? No, that could mean Daniel would pass out before he did what wanted to do. So then, what about a verbal confrontation? Yes that would work, but how to get him to hold still…?

As Vlad's eyes narrowed, his grin grew, confirming his course of action. Starting to circle the obviously cautious teen, Vlad spoke, "Honestly Daniel, just a few simple words would end all your suffering." Vlad let out a dramatic, but sarcastic, sigh, obviously enjoying messing with the boy's head. Plasmius then continued, "Allow me to reiterate something I said to you before, in case you forgot 'my offer still stands'." However, seeing that Danny looked away trying to avoid his gaze, Vlad could only guess what his young adversary had been thinking.

Vlad continued to circle the boy who followed his movements so that he wouldn't be caught off guard again, but it was hard when Vlad continued to play with his mind. _"It's like he can read my mind,"_ Danny bitterly thought as he also continued to watch the man.

In all truths, ever since Plasmius had discovered that Danny Fenton, the son that he believes would have been his if it hadn't been for the accident caused by Jack Fenton, was really Danny _Phantom_...well, he had been somewhat obsessive. Jack had caused his accident making him the half ghost he was now, and had married the love-of-his-life. But when he had met the rest of Jack and Maddie's family, he had not really thought much of it except that they would become **his** family if things had gone his way. The real shock had been discovering that the infamous _Ghost Boy_ of Amity Park was Jack's son! It was then that Vlad realised how much more he want Daniel as his own, how he wasn't the only one of his kind anymore, how someone else finally…understood what it felt like.

Plasmius wanted **him**. He wanted Daniel more than anything. He wanted him as his son, and he would do anything to get him. That was partly the reason he had forced Danny to live with him for five months. And it would have stayed like that too, but fate had a different idea in mind. But that wasn't going to stop the older hybrid that easily, he would keep trying. Even if it went hurting the one that he cared for…which he was about to do.

Vlad picked up speed and shot straight at Danny, unleashing a series of powerful attacks, each hitting their mark. With no pause in the man's attacks, Danny had no room to counter, let alone flee to a safer distance. So with no other option open, Danny continued to take the onslaught of attacks and hoped that he could stay conscious long enough to get away. Too bad Vlad had other ideas.

"Just renounce your father and join me Daniel. I don't know how to make this any clearer to you." Vlad said. But then he continued with a sincereness that was almost scary…almost, "Think of the possibilities, Daniel. All the things you have yet to learn. Why go through them the hard way when I can teach you, like I did not too long ago? I know you want badly what I'm offering you so why deny yourself that? All I would get in this is being able to be your father as you would be my son."

"_And a little more,"_ he added mentally.

Danny weakly glared back at the now stationary man in front of him. "_I hate it when he reads my thoughts!"_ he mentally chided, his eyes glue on his older counter-part. Still not fully recovered from the barrage of attacks, Danny gasped out, "In…your dreams…Plasmius." Although he tried to sound confident, he really couldn't help but feel intimidated, considering he was less than that himself. He was surprised when Vlad didn't even laugh at his attempt.

Honestly, Danny didn't know how much more he could take! He had been mentally exhausted from school and physically tired from after-school ghost hunting. Now he was even more so thanks to being thrashed around like a ragdoll by Plasmius. If it meant that he could go back to bed quicker, than he would have gladly welcomed the possibility of being knocked unconscious be anyone. He just wanted the day to end.

Danny hadn't noticed when the man in front of him had stopped attacking, but when he looked up and saw that Vlad was gone, he became slightly nervous again. Looking around frantically, Danny had only one thing on his mind: _Where did Vlad go?_

Danny took the opportunity to move away from the spot he last remembered Vlad being. Big mistake. The next thing he knew, Vlad was directly behind him holding both his arms behind his back with one hand while the other one was in his white hair pulling his head back until they were staring eye to eye. Danny had to hold back a growl of pain as his body was forced into a **very** uncomfortable position.

The older hybrid let out a small chuckle before he mocked the younger being in his grasp. "Have you forgotten everything that I taught you Daniel? _Never let your guard down._ **That** was the **first **thing I taught you," he added smugly staring at the white haired teen.

Danny had been struggling against the older hybrid's hold the entire time trying to escape, unfortunately to no avail. He hadn't managed to even create any room between him and the older man as he had been speaking to him.

For a moment, Danny couldn't help but freeze at Vlad's mention of teachings. It brought back memories that he really didn't want to think about at the moment. All he could think about now was his need to get away from Plasmius. Almost instantly, Danny began to struggle as hard as his compromised allowed. What Vlad was doing was worse than any physical punishment that he could deliver. Vlad was attacking him where it really hurt; his heart.

After another plot to marry his mother and have him as his son, Danny didn't know what to think anymore. He was in utter turmoil with himself after everything that had happened. He been forced to stay with Vlad or it would cost him his sister's life, or at least that's how it had started. At first, he absolutely hated the man for what he did; threatened his sibling's life, attacked him when he disagreed, and the list continues. But as time went on, Danny and Vlad had gotten…close. It had taken a lot of effort, but the two were acting less like enemies and more like…family!

Suddenly, another memory flashed through the ghost child's mind.

_"You would make a wonderful dad, Vlad," Danny quietly told him with all sincerity._

_Vlad gently pulled away before he suddenly kissed the top of the child's head and finally replied with a sad smile, "Just your father, my boy. It is all I ever wanted; but… I now know that will never be. So, for my own sanity, I need to let that go, too…. I need to let you go, my little badger."_

_"Well, I am not letting you go," Danny replied sorrowfully._

_"Yes, you will… sooner or later."_

That had been his and Vlad's last talk with each other before everything had returned to normal. Danny had returned to home for several reasons and he and Vlad became enemies again, to both of their displeasure…or at least to Danny's. Danny still felt the bond the two once shared, and whether Vlad was doing it on purpose or not, it hurt that he was taking advantage of it.

Vlad, on the other hand, noticed the boy's brief stop in his struggles and realized something important…he had just hurt Danny in a way he hadn't meant to. The older hybrid's face became very sad. He had not wanted it to come to this, but at that instance, Vlad sent a surge of one of his weaker attacks through the younger hybrid. The child's body was then encased in blue electricity.

Danny's eyes went wide with a mixture of sorrow, fear and disbelief before his scream ripped through the air. He couldn't believe it! Vlad was using an ability that he had **helped** him develop! If he wasn't already screaming in pain, he would be doing it out of agony.

Finally, when the electric assault stopped, Vlad let go of the child's head and watched him go limp. He knew that Daniel wasn't unconscious yet, because he was still slightly struggling. Vlad couldn't help but smile at the boy's stubbornness. Although, it was a sad smile, he admired this aspect about Daniel.

Getting closer to the dazed teen's ear, Vlad whispered another phrase that he had once told Danny, "We are enemies, Daniel—and you would do wise to not forget that. But I will not hesitate to momentarily push aside our rivalry in order to help you. I will not allow you to ever fear yourself again. Do you understand me?"

Seeing that Danny was trying to look at him, Vlad knew that he was trying to reply to him. But Vlad continued, "you may refuse my offer now, but know this: I will always be there, watching over you, whether you know it or not. I will act like the shadow that you can't get rid of. I am willing to help you because," Vlad paused to allow Danny to see him, "I am the only one that can truly understand you, and you know it."

Vlad finished with a calm look. But when he saw Danny holding onto his consciousness by a thread, he moved Danny into a more comfortable position in hopes of getting him asleep faster. As he did this, Danny started to lose the battle with his exhausted mind and body. He couldn't fight it anymore and gave into his fatigue. His last thoughts faded into darkness as he lost consciousness.

Vlad held the young halfa and waited for him to change back to his human form before doing anything else. And like that, two white energy rings appeared around Danny's waist and repelled each other, moving to opposite ends of the boy. With that flash of light, Danny Phantom became Danny Fenton again.

Vlad looked down at the slumbering teen in his arms before he sighed. He really meant what he had said to Daniel. He would push aside his differences with Daniel if he needed him. Choosing a direction, Vlad flew off into the night sky with Danny in hand. Looking back down at the boy, he quietly told him, "I will protect you, even if you believe otherwise."

* * *

It was dark, REALLY DARK…but, it wasn't all bad. He couldn't explain it. He knew that he was most likely… no, scratch that, he was DEFINITELY in some form of trouble. But…he didn't know, it felt like he was also **NOT** in trouble. He felt as much safe as he did in danger… did that even make sense? Of course it doesn't, how can you be both when they're polar opposites!

Danny had lost all consciousness, but he still had his instincts, and right now they were on high alert. His mind continued to set off warnings and red flags everywhere. Everything pointed to one thing… he was in trouble. Somehow, even as he knew all this… his mind was giving him mixed feelings. Part of him screamed at him to move, to escape whatever, or whoever was putting him in danger; but the other half said that he was fine, that he was probably in the safest place he could be. At least it felt like that at that moment.

Danny didn't know it, but he and Vlad were currently flying through the air towards Fenton Works. The cold night air passed over the two hybrids as they continued over the town below.

Danny had been unconscious when Vlad had started the journey back to his young rival's home, but somewhere along the way, the older hybrid stopped because of something that got his attention very quickly… Danny had started moving slightly in his hold.

Plasmius didn't know whether he should applaud the boy for not giving into his clearly tired mind and body so quickly, or if he should pity the child. No, pity was the last thing he would feel for the child in his arms. Overall, you could say that Vlad at that moment felt proud for Danny, like a father does their son.

Vlad came out of his musings as Danny wriggled in his arms again. Now with a more questioning look, Vlad stared at the boy.

"_What is he doing? He's clearly out for the count, but he still moving like he's trying to escape; not that he's even able to move much anyways."_ Plasmius thought with an amused grin.

Vlad decided to wait until Danny calmed down a little. It was unlikely that after such an attack, the boy would wake-up. An idea suddenly came to the older hybrid, and he voiced it to his younger counter-part, "you know Daniel, I really didn't want to use an ability that you _willingly_ helped me perfect, but you really left me no other option. It was the quick way or the long and much more painful way, and I think we both know which was the better choice."

Vlad landed on top of the nearest building and sat on its edge. Danny's movements became less and less frequent as time ticked by. Vlad continued to watch the child, but as Danny's movements slowed again, Vlad decided to get moving again; before Danny really **did** wake-up.

As time went on and both hybrids started to move forward again, Danny's mind began to relax again as well as his body. Vlad briefly noticed Danny's change, but didn't give it a second thought. Pushing past his now all-but-fading worry, the young hybrid's breathing returned to normal as did the sensation of déjà vu.

It felt like something warm was burning in his core… but, that made as much sense as how he couldn't move, talk, or even open his eyes! It was like he was awake, but not at all.

But this _burning_ feeling… it wasn't normal for him. He had a cold core, so why was his core burning? It didn't hurt him or anything, it just felt… familiar. It was so welcoming, like the warmth of a loved one or someone you equally care for in a hug.

He couldn't place his finger on it… metaphorically really. HE STILL COULDN'T MOVE! Or so he thought.

At that moment, Vlad and the unconscious Danny arrived at Fenton Works. The older of the two turned them both intangible and phased through Danny's window.

Looking around the room, Vlad could see why Danny had been designing his room the way he did when he had stayed with Vlad. There were glowing stars on the ceiling, and from what he could tell, they had been arranged into constellations. His room was blue and all over the walls were posters of _Dumpty Humpty _and N.A.S.A. related ideas. Finally, on the dresser were models of rockets; most looked like replicas of real rockets, but there were a few that Plasmius had to guess were his own design.

Vlad chuckled, but there was some bitterness behind it. _"Of course his room would look like this, it's who he is… but these rockets remind me of the one Daniel gave me," _Vlad thought. And he still had it, even though it reminded him of so many things that happened between him and the child. Danny had made him that model rocket _for him_, it was a gift, and he even put a logo for him on it. A "V" with a lightning bolt breaking through the middle, how did the boy come up with it?

Vlad continued to look at the models with an amused grin spread across his face. But remembering something, or _someone_, Vlad looked down at Danny again. Unconsciously, Danny had managed to grip Vlad's jumpsuit a little, but it wasn't in the way that should hurt. More like the way a child seeks comfort from their parents. Vlad smiled a little with the Danny's actions. Vlad turned from the models for a moment and moved towards the single bed in the room.

There, he put down Danny's now unresponsive body and tucked him into bed. Looking over his work, a satisfied smirk appeared on the older hybrids face. Ready to leave, Vlad moved back across the room and was about to exit via the window again, but something at the corner of his vision stopped him.

There was something _glowing_, just behind the models he'd been observing. Moving back over to the dresser, Vlad began to move some of the rockets around and found the object that had been glowing. Vlad's eyes widened at the sight. It was the water globe that he had given Danny, or more specifically, it was the remake of the original since he destroyed the first one.

He…he couldn't believe it. Daniel had actually **kept** his gift. He had half-expected the boy to destroy it, or at least throw it away. But no, he still had it!

Vlad picked up the water globe and went over to the young hybrid's bed and sat down. Looking down at the scene within it, Vlad's face melted with the happiness he felt from knowing Daniel had kept the water globe. Vlad's gaze drifted back to the sleeping boy and almost by instinct, Vlad started to pet Danny's head. Looking at him fondly, Vlad said in a fatherly tone, "You know, Daniel, you really do surprise me every now and again. But you always did manage to get my attention, from the moment we met. But there's one other thing…" Vlad paused and put the water globe back before he continued, "you are _**still**_ my 'Little Badger' my boy."

And with that said, Vlad finally left Fenton Works and began the trip back to his castle in Wisconsin.

* * *

"Get away, "Danny said struggling against an invisible force. "Get away, get away, get awa-a-a-a-a-a-A-A-A-Y!"

*Thump*

"Ow!"

Danny fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Danny's eyes snapped open with a mixture of surprise and fear. But finally noticing that his attacker was really his blanket, he got up hoping that no one saw what just happened. His cheeks were still tinged red even after he realized that he was alone.

Still on high alert, Danny looked around for any threats around him…but as he began to take in his surroundings, he realized something very important…but confusing. Looking up at the ceiling, he confirmed his suspicions. The glowing stars in the form of constellations only existed in one place. He was in his room.

"_But… wasn't I just outside, fighting the Box Ghost and…"_ Danny thought only to remember something crucial from the events earlier that night. "_VLAD!"_ Danny's eyes widened as everything previous that night flooded into his mind.

Still confused as to how he was in his room, Danny thought, _"Was it all… just a dream?"_

No, it couldn't be. It had all felt **too** real. The attacks, the verbal assault, **the pain**! So… how did he end up here?

Danny mentally went through the night's events, hoping to get to an answer by doing so.

"_Ok, let's see. I was fast asleep until the Box Ghost came and woke me up with no __**real**__ reason behind it. Then I followed him around town and caught him in the thermos… where is my thermos?" _

Danny looked around his room and seeing that the thermos was on the night stand, he made a mental note to send the ghost inside back to the Ghost Zone in the morning. Then he continued with his previous thoughts.

"_After I captured him, I stayed outside for a little while and then…then I got attacked! Wait… I felt something before I was hit by the first attack… my core had felt, warm. But that only happened when…"_ Danny's eyes lit up with realization. "_When I had been with Vlad! He's the only person that makes my core do that! Did he plan this? And if so, for what purpose?"_

Danny continued to muse over these until the biggest questions floated into his head. _"What happened after I lost consciousness? It felt like… well it felt like someone was carrying me, and judging from the fact that I had that warm feeling again, I think it was Vlad. Did… did he bring me back to my house after the fight? If so, why?"_

Danny couldn't find an explanation, but he knew the answer already. Vlad really did still care about him, just like he did. That was why he couldn't part from the water globe, no matter how many times Vlad got under his skin.

*whine*

Looking down at his feet, Danny noticed the cause of the sound staring back up at him with worry. A very startled Dalmatian looked at Danny with a tilted head. Realizing that he must have scared him, Danny went over to his bed and welcomed the dog up onto it. Perking up, the dog jumped over to the bed.

Danny scratched one of the Dalmatian's ears before saying, "sorry about that TJ, guess I scared you a little." The puppy leaned his towards his companion, clearly enjoying the attention.

Danny yawned and finally realized how tired he really was. "Well, at least tomorrow's the weekend. I can always figure out everything that happened tonight then. Maybe Sam, Tucker and Jazz can help." Danny told the puppy.

Finally, Danny crawled back into bed. Not even bothering with getting his dog off the bed, Danny drifted back off to where he was before Box Ghost had interrupted; sleep and pleasant dreams.

Somewhere in the now silent room echoed someone's voice. And if Danny was still awake, he would have realized that it was Vlad's voice emitting from the spy bug that was still in his room. The last words that circled the room were, _"sweet dreams, little badger"_ and then everything was quiet again.

* * *

**Phantom: Wow! I can't believe that this chapter is done! My mind is just over flowing with ideas for this and my next story!**

***gets hit in the head with a pokeball***

**Phantom: OW!**

**Trainer: THAT WAS FOR TAKING MY POKEBALLS!**

**Phantom: *glares at Trainer* I GAVE THEM BACK DIDN'T I? I JUST DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO MY STORY!**

**Trainer: you still had no right.**

**Phantom: *sigh* Ok, fine, whatever. To our readers, tell us what you think of the first official chapter of "Ghostly Reunions". I have lots of plans for Vlad and Danny, and maybe even some others that are involved –**

***gets hit again***

**Trainer: don't reveal your plot! I guess I have no choice.**

***pulls out the **_**Fenton Thermos**_** and aims it***

**Phantom: Don't. You. Dare.**

**Trainer: Don't worry. I'll let you out late…**_** much later**_**.**

**Phantom: *inside the thermos* Being captured by a device that I use, how humiliating.**

**Trainer: As Phantom had been saying, tell us what you think of the chapter by pressing that button down there. Phantom Trainer, Out!**

**Phantom: THAT'S MY LINE!**


	2. Chapter 2: Food for Thought

**Phantom: *shaking from shock* ok. I never want to be sucked into the **_**Fenton Thermos**_**EVER ****again.**

**Trainer: *grins with malice/mischief* oh come on it wasn't soooo bad.**

**Phantom: SAYS YOU! YOU CAN'T EVEN BE SUCKED INTO ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE! *mumbles* I think I know how your pokemon feel.**

**Trainer: what? … Never mind. Anyways, time for chapter two!**

**Phantom: and to those that have commented/subscribed, I thank you for being a wonderful audience! Now on with the show!**

**Trainer: WAIT! Can we have a game time first?**

**Phantom: NOT NOW! Maybe later.**

***Trainer mumbles under her breath***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Food for Thought**

* * *

"Danny, are you ok? You look terrible dude." Tucker pointed out bluntly.

Ever since he and Sam met up with Danny earlier that morning, the two had noticed something was off. Their half ghost friend had dark circles under his eyes and he looked… well, like a train wreck over all. The techno-geek and Goth girl exchanged a look that practically said _"something's wrong"_.

And they couldn't be more right, either. Danny was still fussing over what had happened the previous night. _"What does it all mean?"_ Danny asked himself. But finally clueing into what his friend had said, Danny reluctantly replied.

"Yesterday… I-I think I had a run-in with… Vlad" The hybrid said before lowering his gaze back down to the sidewalk they were travelling on.

Sam and Tucker stopped and stared at each other in disbelief. Then, they hurriedly caught up to their friend before they bombarded him with questions. Sam was asking most of them since the news annoyed her the most.

"What do you mean by _'I think'_? It either happened or it didn't. And if it did, why now of all times?" Sam continued to rant without leaving room for either of the boys to reply. "I mean, come on! There's nothing that that horrible, deceiving, conniving, egotistical, evil, sorry-excuse-for-a-human-being could even do to you, let alone gain in the process by coming after you in this way." She turned around to face her two friends. Throwing her arms into the air, she exasperated, "seriously, why –"

"I know Sam, and I don't get it either," Danny interrupted her, mostly so that her anger wouldn't explode on him and the techno-geek. "I don't know why Vlad suddenly attacked me last night, but I think it was him who brought me back home too… that much I'm sure of. Before that, I had been battling the Box Ghost." Danny finished with a light shrug.

Finally, tucker came back into the conversation, "ok, how about we continue this conversation elsewhere. Maybe somewhere like, oh I don't know, the Nasty Burger?" Tucker looked hopefully between his friends who just nodded in agreement, and the continued to their usual hangout.

* * *

Off in Wisconsin, Vlad was busy with his own plans. Or at least plans of getting rid of a certain annoying pest…

"How many times must I tell you," Plasmius' voice echoed throughout his lab, "**I. WILL. NOT. BE. YOUR. FRIEND**. AND THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE!" Plasmius shouted at the now whimpering Klemper.

*Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.*

"Oh, what is it now?" the older hybrid said before throwing the ice ghost in stripped pyjamas back into the portal he came out of. Making sure that the portal was closed and that his lab was in order, Vlad exited the metal chamber while two black rings changed him back into Masters.

"_This better be good, for whoevers sake."_ Vlad thought murderously.

After dropping Daniel off at his bedroom, Vlad immediately left for his own home. However, he didn't get back until an hour later, leaving him to arrive back at his castle in the wee hours of the morning. Vlad had managed to get to sleep, but still felt horrible. Clearly, he didn't get enough. Vlad just hoped that his _visitor_, as it was, was one of the ghosts that worked for him. He didn't think he would have the patience for any one of the many men and/or women that worked for him as _Vlad Masters_.

When he finally reached the main foyer, Vlad was relieved to find that it was indeed one of his ghostly allies. It was Skulker.

"Hello, Skulker. What brings you here?" The billionaire asked, even though he had a pretty good idea already.

The ghost turned towards the man with his green eyes slightly intensifying. His metal armour-like exterior clanking on the marble tile floor as he moved. A smile appeared on the ghost hunter's face as he finally addressed the white haired man.

"Hello, Plasmius. Sorry for dropping by so early, I had some… business to attend to." Skulker said, as he took in the scene of the obviously, very tired man. A smile was plastered on his face, guessing that it was either the whelp or some other ghost-related thing that had kept Vlad up until now.

"_Now __**that**__ I would have liked to see"_ Skulker thought, becoming very amused at the idea of someone like Plasmius being pushed to their limits by the runt instead of him.

Vlad had also been observing the hunter with a critical eye. "I see you're still wearing the current model of your suit. Does this mean that the one you told me about is still under construction?" Vlad remarked, noticing how his ally had a smile plastered on his face and had clearly gotten lost in his own thoughts.

Vaguely hearing the billionaire, Skulker nodded before he replied. "Yes, the new model I told you about isn't finished yet, but when it is I plan to use it on a certain ghost boy," the hunter finished, his grin doubling (if that was even possible).

Vlad knew about Skulker's plans of creating a new version of his armour. In fact, he had created the overall layout of the design himself. It was just up to Skulker to create the marvel. The colour scheme was black and green. It would have several weapons and equipment that the hunter would need to learn how to use properly, but he knew that his ally would be up to it. Little did the two know that the new suit's design was that of the future Skulker's, just without Technus inhabiting the chamber in the chest. It would be spectacular when it was complete, especially when Daniel would have no idea about it; or so they thought.

Vlad gave him a sly look, knowing that Skulker still had a bone to pick with Daniel and would love to use any new tricks to get the advantage on his _'favourite _prey', as the hunter sometimes referred to Daniel as. Then he gestured the hunter to follow him. The two made their way into Vlad's private study, both knowing that from there, they would move to his private lab. Sure enough, Vlad tilted one of the golden footballs on top of the fireplace before it opened up to reveal the passage to the lab.

Once there Skulker finally revealed his intentions. "I am heading to Amity Park again later today, but I would like to adjust some things with my suit before I venture off," the hunter said without so much as caring what the older hybrid said. He was going.

Vlad looked back at Skulker like he was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. Then, Vlad asked, "Why are you heading off to that back waters town? Are you going to try and capture Daniel again?" measuring the hunter's reaction.

Vlad knew Skulker regularly went to Amity Park for several reasons:

1. He was going to hunt down Daniel for the who-knows-how-many time. _"Which usually ends with him being shoved into that ridiculous thermos of Daniel's or his fleeing the scene, both resulting in his suit being extremely damaged, which ends Skulker here anyways," _Vlad added mentally.

2. He was tracking another rare ghost that had travelled through one of the many temporary portals that lead to Amity Park.

3. He was doing a job for Vlad.

Or

4. He had some other purpose that Vlad didn't know about, and would most likely keep it to himself.

Vlad assumed that if anything, Skulker was indeed heading to the small town to catch Daniel off guard, which, as he had told himself earlier, would end terribly for the hunter. It couldn't be the second or third option, because he had not given Skulker any instructions on his plans and Skulker himself had told Vlad that he wasn't tracking anything new at the moment. That just left two options.

Skulker looked back at the half ghost and replied, "Something important has recently gone missing in one of the more secluded areas of the ghost zone. An ancient relic. I didn't want to tell you about it because I was sure that, even with the knowledge you have on ghostly-related relics and artefacts, you don't know anything on this particular one." The hunter finished with an apologetic look.

To the billionaire's surprise, his assumption had been very far off from the truth. Studying the hunter again, Vlad inwardly sighed, but replied, "Perhaps if I knew more about this relic I could… offer you my services in finding it." Vlad let his amused smirk spread across his face.

The hunter returned the smirk before moving towards the large mainframe on one side of the room. Connecting his PDA to the large computer, Skulker typed in several commands before information began to appear on the different screens.

With a raised eyebrow, Vlad said with genuine intrigue, "how very… interesting."

* * *

It was around noon by now and Danny, Sam and Tucker were now enjoying some lunch over at the Fenton household. Danny and Tucker were enjoying their sandwiches while Sam ate a salad.

They had spent the morning just travelling around town. Starting at the Nasty Burger, Danny retold everything that he could remember from the night's events, as well as what he believed to happen after he passed out. The conversation continued everywhere they went, so they eventually decided to just return to Danny's house and avoid someone overhearing them.

However, it was the first time that Danny revealed to his friends that he actually had a way of sensing Vlad that wasn't the same as his usual _ghost sense_ that worked only with full ghosts.

"So… that's why you think he brought you back to your room? Because you can… what, feel his presence? I guess it makes sense, but that still doesn't prove that it was him, right? Maybe it was someone else," Tucker said with a hopeful expression.

"Like **who** Tucker?" Sam pointed out. "it's highly unlikely that someone would come across Danny and know that he lived here, let alone get into his house without rousing everyone else." But finally noticing something about the house, she asked, "by the way, Danny. Where are your mom and dad? Where's Jazz for that matter? I was sort of expecting them to be here."

Danny stopped eating and looked at the Goth girl before taking a gulp of his soda. Able to speak freely, the half ghost replied, "Mom and dad said that they would be gone for the next few weeks at another ghost hunting convention. They left shortly after we headed out, so we're free to do some training in the lab and can talk about this kind of thing without worrying about them listening to us… at least for a little while," he added.

Smiling a little, Tucker chimed in, "ok, so your parents are gone for a few weeks. That explains them, but where's Jazz? Isn't she usually here, or something, watching the house or getting supplies?"

Danny just shrugged as he continued with his lunch. He honestly didn't know where his overbearing sister was at the moment. And really, he didn't like that fact. He could really use some guidance right now. He was confused with Vlad's actions and somewhere in his ghost core, although it was dormant currently; he felt that something was off. Like something BIG was going to happen, and soon.

Danny got up and moved over to the fridge. Opening it he pulled out a pudding cup that had an attached Spork on the lid. Moving back to his seat, he told his friends, "I haven't seen Jazz since breakfast. Maybe she went to the library or something. I can always give her a call if we need to talk."

As Danny opened his desert, Tucker and Sam looked worriedly at their friend. He just seemed too calm about the whole thing. Like being beaten-up to unconsciousness, or from what he described; semi-unconsciousness, was completely normal…well, for Danny it was, but that still didn't make it any better.

Sam had noticed how fast Danny was eating, and that usually said that Danny was really troubled. "Danny you gotta' relax. We'll figure this out," She tried to comfort her distraught friend. Not really proving to any avail.

Eating his pudding faster, Danny exclaimed, "Relax? Relax? How can I relax when so much is happening?" shoving both his hands into the air, still holding the pudding and Spork. "I can't relax! Not even close," Danny said continuing to eat his pudding but faster than before.

Suddenly, when the movement of the Spork to his mouth became too quick, Danny swallowed the Spork. With a disgusted frown, Danny grabbed his throat and said, "And I think I'm eating so fast, I just ate my Spork… again!" Phasing his hand through his stomach, he grabbed the item before saying, "there we go."

Tucker made a muffled chuckling noise as he covered his mouth to prevent his lunch from flying out across the room. "Ok…heh heh… I can't believe you did that again. You are _really_ lucky to be part ghost, Danny, or you might have **two** Sporks inside your stomach," tucker said, his laughter subduing to a soft snicker.

Danny gave a short laugh too. How ironic. The one thing that was causing him all this trouble was the same thing that kept him _practically_ alive every day!

Sam smiled at her friends' amusement. _"Now that's the half ghost and techno-geek that I know,"_ Sam thought. "I have an idea. How about we help Danny train until Jazz comes back? It's better than doing nothing. Plus, it will let us each think about what's happening," Sam chimed in.

Danny and Tucker nodded in agreement and the trio moved down into the basement lab. From there, they started the usual routine tests for Danny's powers as well as some new ones for his newly developed ones. But Danny couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, and so he wasn't focusing too much on the exercises. Not that it changed his results all that much. However, none of the teenagers even noticed the little red light in the corner of the room. A small metallic bug was sitting on the wall watching their every move.

* * *

Vlad skimmed through the information on the different screens. At first glance, it would appear to be nothing more than complete nonsense, but to a ghost fanatic and treasure hunter; this was the most amazing find in the world!

It was like nothing he had ever seen before! It was…was…impossible! It was inconceivable, that something like this even existed, let alone that there just so happened to be several.

Looking back at the hunter, the older hybrid questioned, "Skulker, where in the Ghost Zone did these items come from? You were dead on when you said that I didn't know anything about them, but with a little more digging, I believe that I can and even find out what they're for." But then getting another idea, Vlad asked again, "Do you know what they're for?" He raised an expectant eyebrow.

The hunter stared back with an annoyed expression. He knew that his employer would eventually get to those questions and probably want to look for them himself. That was another reason as to why the hunter didn't want to tell Vlad about the items._ "This will and well,"_ he thought sarcastically.

"In order, I don't know where they came from and I don't know what they're for," Skulker replied nonchalantly.

The billionaire frowned at the news. _"Well that makes things more difficult,"_ he thought bitterly, his attention returning to the screens and what was on them. Vlad read through the information more clearly to make sure he didn't miss anything that he could use later.

The documents where descriptions, powers and history of the missing objects. See as Skulker wasn't usually the one who read things through in writing, Vlad doubted that he had gone through all the information before accepting the job. And that raised another question, "Who are you working for, Skulker?" Vlad asked as he continued to search the data in front of him.

"That's the thing, Plasmius. I don't know who _**exactly**_ wants me to do this. A messenger came and said it was an urgent matter that, if left unattended, could be disastrous to time and existence," replied the hunter from the other side of the lab, where he was tinkering with his suit.

"Hmmm," was all Vlad could say to that comment. _"Why does that sound familiar?"_ the older hybrid mused to himself. Vlad's attention returned to his mainframe as he began to read:

_Several years ago, the first of these books appeared out of nowhere. It was discovered that this book had similar properties to items with extreme energies like the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage._

_Surprisingly, it was almost like the item had a core. Certain entities couldn't get near it let alone touch the mysterious book. When someone could grab the book, it almost always burned them or sent a current of electricity through the holder._

_No one could open the book, so what's contained within is still a mystery. The blood red gem on the cover may be the secret to opening it however, what the key is, is also unknown._

_The book was last seen being taken to the Forbidden Region by a ghost that has not been seen since the incident._

"I wonder how long ago this first book was actually made." Vlad said out loud, but mostly to himself. But then thinking of something else, he questioned, "Wait. There's more than one book?" with that in mind, Vlad continued reading:

_Then, thirty-four years later, another book appeared. It had similar properties to the first book, but there were slight differences._

_Instead of the red gem like on the first book, this one had a brilliant green gem. When others touched it, the book would send a freezing chill into the holder, not a burst of fire or electricity. The power it radiated was… more pure than that of the first._

…

_Then, several months later, another book appeared near the second. The likeness between the two was almost identical. The only change was that the gem decorating the cover had a slightly whiter tinge about it._

…

_The third book, for some unknown reason, seemed to deteriorate for some time until it solidified and was glowing brighter than ever before. While in its weaker state, a ghost from the Far Frozen found that it had similar properties to the Infi-map as well as other abilities that seem to only work when the book has been unlocked._

…

_There is no pattern in the appearance of these books. Over time, they seem to grow in power, but never disintegrate or succumb to any form of destruction from the incredible growth. Another common trait among these peculiar books is that every once in a while, their glows become brighter for unknown lengths of time and just as easily dims as well._

Vlad read on, oblivious to the fact that Skulker was now next to him reading as well. For the most part, the older hybrid had been correct when he thought Skulker hadn't looked over the information. Skulker had only skimmed through the data once since he was in a bit of a hurry to complete his job.

In fact, Skulker wasn't too happy with being asked to track down something as simple as a book. But he was a hunter who kept his word, so what's done is done. He was going to do everything he could to find these missing items.

As the two read on, they realized just how important they were. _"These aren't your average books,"_ the two beings thought.

_The first book has gone missing in the Forbidden Region due to the mysterious ghost who took it there. The remaining two are in possession of the ice ghosts of the Far Frozen._

…

_Filed missing: all three mystery books gone from where they were hidden. No trace as to where they've gone or who took them. Assumed to have gone into the Human World for some reason._

_Reported by Frostbite of the Far Frozen and anonymous ghost._

Vlad leaned back in his chair, while Skulker crossed his arms; both thinking about what they just read. They now had a better idea on what these relics were, but it still wasn't enough.

Vlad turned to his ally and asked with concern, "Skulker, are you _really_ going to Amity Park to look for these… books? I'll admit, they are very tempting for me to go after myself, but even I would take precautions before heading out. More research for example; like who might have them? What would you be going up against? And would you need some… assistance?" Vlad let his last question hang there, knowing that the hunter would understand immediately. The smile on the hybrids face showed it.

And sure enough, he was right. Skulker gave him an amused smirk and raised his eyebrow at the obvious self-invitation. The ghost shook his head and said, "first off, you know that I would gladly accept your 'offer' of help, but I cannot this time. I know all too well that you would try and keep one of the books, and I can't let you, at least not yet. You know, as well as I, that I keep my word. And my word was to return those books if I found them in the Human World."

The billionaire frowned, only to realize a loophole in the hunter's agreement, which he shared happily. "You said 'if you found it in the _Human_ World' correct?" and earning a nod from his ally he continued, "Well what if it **wasn't** here in this world? What if it was in the Ghost Zone?" he finished.

The hunter's eyes widened with understanding before he smirked at the hybrids analysis. He then replied, "weeeeeeeell… if it wasn't if this realm then I would say it's free game to anyone who comes across it."

But remembering one of Vlad's earlier questions, he quickly remarked, "and yes, I am going to Amity Park first. If these books really did fall into this world, than they're most likely there; since many items from the Ghost Zone seem to end up there. As for whose possession it's in; I don't know who might have it, but maybe the whelp could help me, even if he doesn't realize that he's doing so."

Vlad found this funny and chuckled at his employee's words. Skulker then turned towards the portal, clearly about to set out, but he then turned back to Vlad. With slight amusement eking in his voice he said, "Oh, and by the way Plasmius, you can keep that information if you want. It may prove useful in one of your 'treasure hunts', as you call it."

Vlad grinned back at the hunter before he replied in a similar tone, "thank you, I think I will." But then, in a more concerned tone, he added, "Skulker, just… be careful. I can't have one of my allies being dissected, now can I?"

The hunter gave him one final look before heading into the swirling green mass in front of him that was Vlad's ghost portal.

Watching as Skulker vanished into the Ghost Zone, Vlad sighed and looked back at the information he now had.

"_There has to be a pattern, a sequence, to the appearance to these blasted books!"_ he told himself as he read through the history and descriptions again. Something about these artefacts just sounded _**too**_ familiar.

Three books, each having similar yet also different attributes about them, the dates of their discoveries so different. There was something very important missing from the journal entries. What it was, Vlad couldn't figure out at this point in the game, but he was determined to find out.

With that, he made a mental note to get back to this matter later.

"For now, let's see what Daniel is up to," He said to himself. As if responding to his voice, a small beeping came from the monitor, alerting him that his spy bug's motion sensor had been activated and was now sending a visual of the scene. The hybrid now knew that someone was indeed at the Fenton home and in the lab, and it was most-likely the person he wanted to see.

Pressing a key, and image came up of Danny in his ghost form, manoeuvring around several ecto-beams and obstacles. Clearly, he was doing some training, but why take the risk when his parents might be home… unless, they weren't home!

Vlad made another mental note to look into that as well.

The older hybrid continued to watch as the teen tested several powers that Vlad knew the boy had in his arsenal, as well as a few he didn't even know he had developed. Vlad noticed that Daniel's friends were both manning the controls and keeping track of the results of Daniel's training. It was now obvious that they had gone through this routine before.

The older hybrid leaned back in his chair again and watched as his spy bug recorded the training session, and anything else that may happen.

* * *

*Bam*

Danny dodged another ecto-beam by turning intangible. Too bad the wall that was behind him didn't fare as well as he did. A huge scorch mark was left after the beam collided with the metallic surface.

"Danny, be careful! Anything that's **not** supposed to be blown up has to be fix by all of us before your parents return," Sam said as she made a note to fix that wall, among other things, that would later need repairs.

"Sorry… Sam! This lab… is only somewhat… ghost proof," Danny said between dodges. Currently, they were checking his reflexes and reaction time. The guns were set to a low, so that if Danny did end up getting hit, the most it would do was annoy him. They only ever set the guns to higher levels when testing Danny's durability to strong ghostly attacks, whether that be from an actual ghost or from a ghost hunting weapon.

"_Well, at least it's not like the simulation room at Vlad's mansion. It seemed like the only thing I was allowed to work on was my powers and abilities,"_ Danny mentally noted.

With one final dodge, Tucker turned off the guns and activated several walls and rings to appear from the floor and ceiling. "Ok dude, time for some agility and phasing actin," the techno-geek announced.

Danny started with the rings, and did several flips and swings through the rings like they were nothing. Then zooming to the metal make-shift walls, he lazily phased backwards through all of them, giving his friends at the other side a cheeky grin followed by a thumbs up.

"Agility and phasing ability, check," Sam proudly proclaimed.

*thud*

Danny hit one of the lab's walls and fell to the ground in a daze. Standing up, he gripped his head and looked over at his two friends who had smirks on their faces.

"And make check off that he got cocky again," Tucker said, earning a blush from his half ghost friend. The three broke out into laughter before Danny motioned them to continue with the training session.

Sam pressed a button on the monitor and several cardboard cut-outs sprang up from behind the lab tables in sequence. Danny hit them all as they appeared.

Ghost…*bam*. Ghost…*bam*. A cut-out of Jazz nagging Danny… skip. Ghost…*bam*.

But then with another grin, Danny aimed a finger behind his back and shot a blast of green energy at the Jazz cut-out, before he heard his friends say "Check!" in the background.

Then the young hybrid landed on the ground and looked to his friends as he waited for everything to slide back into the walls as that part of the training ended.

"Ok, let's test some of your other abilities, "Tucker said but then added with creased eyebrows, "and **do not** test your overshadowing on me. That's so not cool dude."

Sam and Danny giggled at their friend's response before they both nodded.

"Don't worry Tuck, I don't need to test that one. I know it works just fine. What I want to test are my newer abilities," Danny said with a determined grin.

Landing on the ground, Danny closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before he let his energy flow into his hands. Sam and Tucker had been expecting Danny's usual green energy, so they were completely stupefied when it came out in the form of a little blue flame. Danny opened his eyes and smiled at the tiny flame.

The Goth girl and techno boy looked at each other before Sam voiced the question that was now on both their minds. "Danny… when did you learn **that**?" she asked pointing at the blue energy in the hybrid's hand.

Danny looked up at his Goth friend with a now depressed look. Looking back at the flame, he replied, "I… learned it when I stayed with Vlad those few months ago. I learned other things that… personally I think could help me in protecting Amity." Danny then extinguished the delicate flame and looked back at his friends, who were now giving him an expectant look.

Danny sighed. He hadn't really told anyone, not even Jazz, about the things that had happened while at Vlad's. Sure, Jazz heard from him how portion of him wanted to stay with Vlad; to stop being the protector and be the protected, to learn about his other half, to be understood and… cared for.

Knowing that he had to tell his friends something, he decided that it better be the truth, or at least part of it. He began to tell them of the skills that Vlad had taught him as well as the natural skills he now had because of his being half ghost; things like blue energy, acute hearing, sensing Vlad, teleportation, duplication, and many others.

Duplication had been the hardest to tell them; since it was something he finally learned when he and Vlad had had their final fight over Danny's need to leave, his need to… save his sister's life. Sam and Tucker didn't urge him to continue, knowing how hurt, how torn he must have been at that moment.

When Danny had finished, Tucker took the opportunity to add his input. "Well, why don't we test some of these newly acquired abilities? It couldn't hurt right? I mean, along with your other powers, you now have a whole new arsenal that no one, except Vlad, knows about. The least we could do is keep them sharp, just in case you **do** need to use them," he quickly added holding his hands up in a defensive manner, seeing Sam give him a death glare.

Danny smiled at his friends. He was really lucky to have such great friends. Stepping between them, Danny quickly intervened, "ok, ok, settle down Sam. Tucker has a good point. I should practice what I've been given. Who knows, maybe they'll even come in handy one day."

With that said, they resumed Danny's tests. Step by step, they went through each of the things that Danny had described, each one being as successful as the last. When it came to duplication, the young half ghost became hesitant. He had only done it several times, and the first time he had done it without feeling tired was when he used it against Vlad.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Danny decided to make a **single** duplicate. Concentrating, he made exactly one duplicate, no flaws or anything, and then let it disappear. He really didn't want to use this ability until he came to terms with what happened, that or if he was left with no other choice.

Moving on to his last two abilities, Danny began to act like his old self again. There was something about using his ice abilities that always calmed him down. He made his ice energy into crystals, beams from his hand and eyes, encasements around his arms up to the elbow, and finally into something he always wanted to try; Danny made an ice scythe that resembled the staff that Clockwork owned.

The detail was so intimate; he was reluctant to get rid of the make-shift weapon. The fact that he chose to model it after his mentor's own staff showed his respect and love for the spirit. Clockwork had helped him out with so many of the life-changing problems; Danny couldn't help but see the ancient spirit as something more than just the Master of Time.

Sam and Tucker noticed the design of the scythe and just smiled at each other. They had only seen Clockwork a few times in the past, but they knew his staff when they saw it.

Sam came up behind Danny and moved slightly to see the work that her friend had made. "Danny, this is beautiful!" she exclaimed, finally seeing the detail that had been put into it within just a few seconds.

It looked like the Time Master's staff, except that there was now a blade coming out of the top. The blade itself looked so fragile that if it hit anything, it would shatter. And on the blade was the 'DP' logo, carved strait into the ice.

Danny moved away from his friends, and made a swing at one of the singed targets that he used earlier. The blade cut through it like it was butter. Sam and Tucker were wide eyed with mouths agape. For something that looked so fragile, it was incredibly strong. Not even the shaft or blade broke.

Sam smiled again, but before she could say anything, Tucker jumped in. "Dude! That's amazing! I don't know whether Clockwork would be flattered or proud!" he said throwing his arms into the air in all his excitement.

"How about both?" Sam piped in. "it really is an amazing skill Danny. I thought that it was perfect that you modeled it after Clockworks staff."

Danny smiled again as the scythe turned back into energy and came back to him. "Ok, that leaves only one power… and I don't know about you, but I really don't want to use it unless as a trump card. It can be really destructive, especially in a place that's not ghost proof. You should see what I did by accident to Vlad's training room that one time," the younger hybrid said, not explaining what he meant be his last comment. There was a time and a place for everything, and now wasn't one of those times.

The trio headed back up to the main part of the house, only to discover that TJ was going nuts for some reason. Walking over to the puppy, Danny tried to calm him down. It was weird. TJ was acting like he had just seen someone from the family, yet he would make a complete 180 and hide somewhere in the living room in the next moment.

"Hey, buddy. What's wrong?" Danny asked the confused and scared Dalmatian. His answer came as a long crashing sound coming from outside the front of the house.

The three teens looked at each other and all but ran outside. When they got there, they found that it was Jazz and she managed to attract some unwanted attention.

Jazz and the Box Ghost were having a one to one battle. It wasn't that the Box Ghost was a real threat, but he was annoying.

Jazz pulled out a thermos and pressed the button before the pudgy male ghost could do anything. Danny was surprised by his sister's actions; not only had she actually fought well, but she managed to catch a ghost… other than him!

"Hah! Take that Crate Creep!" Jazz beamed, proud of her capture.

"Actually, his name is the Box Ghost," Danny corrected nonchalantly as he walked down the steps to his sister. Then he added, "Nice work by the way."

Jazz blushed only to notice something. "Danny, why are you guys here? I mean, I know that _you_ live here, but why are Sam and Tucker here? It's getting late," she commented, looking back at her watch.

The three teens in front of her finally notice how dark it was outside. They had been in the basement, and it had no windows. They hadn't been keeping track of the time and it had apparently slipped away from them.

Saying their good-byes and confirming their plans for the next couple of days, the half ghost's friend headed for home while Jazz and Danny went back inside. Once inside though, Danny went and sat on the couch. TJ had moved from his hiding place and was now waiting for some attention by his owner, who had a saddened expression on his face.

Jazz noticed this and became a little worried. She only ever saw Danny this depressed when something was wrong, and she was going to find out. "Danny," she asked getting his attention, "what happened?"

Danny sighed. He really did need to talk to someone and get some advice, so who better than family? Danny proceeded to go through all the events up till now that Jazz hadn't known about, and he was thankful that she was willing to listen.

The two continued to talk until they decided to eat something and go to bed.

* * *

Vlad had watched Danny train with his friends for some time. He had his afternoon tea in his lab, and had grown somewhat bored of watching his young counter-part dodge and use the powers he knew the boy had.

He was about to turn away from the monitor and let the spy bug record when he suddenly heard the girl say,_ "Danny… when did you learn that?"_

Turning his attention back to the screen, Vlad's eyes widened as he realized that the boy was using _blue_ energy. Most would think that this would annoy the older hybrid, but it did anything but. Vlad felt a sense of proudness at the fact that his young rival was still using the skills he had taught him.

He continued to watch and listen as Danny listed through the powers and abilities that the billionaire had taught him. The way Danny had explained each one was incredible. It sound almost like… like Danny was **praising** him. Thanking him indirectly for teaching him.

Vlad was also surprised by the number of things he had taught the young hybrid. "_Was it really that many?"_ He mused with a satisfied grin as he rubbed his chin.

After Danny created a duplicate, Vlad wondered if there were any other abilities that the teen could have. He knew that the boy's other abilities were increasing in strength each and every day, he had seen that through the training sessions when Daniel had stayed with him.

As if answering his unasked question, Danny created several light blue, glass-like objects and rays. The instant one of the rays hit something, the item would freeze over. Vlad's eyes widened only to narrow with pleasure. "So Daniel has learned how to use his hidden ice powers, has he?" he voiced out loud.

"_Danny, this is beautiful!"_ he heard the Goth girl exclaimed. Vlad looked back at the monitor only to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. In Daniel's hands was a beautifully crafted scythe. The blade had Daniel's crest on it, and the top of the shaft had what looked like a small clock adorning it.

It really was a work of art.

He watched as the young hybrid made a swing at one of the earlier targets, getting the scythe clean through the substance. But it was the next few comments that peaked the older half ghost's curiosity.

"_Dude! That's amazing! I don't know whether Clockwork would be flattered or proud!"_ the dark-skinned boy said throwing his arms into the air in all his excitement.

"_How about both?"_ the Goth girl piped in. _"it really is an amazing skill Danny. I thought that it was perfect that you modeled it after Clockworks staff."_

Well that did it. Vlad recalled that Clockwork was the Master of Time and that Danny knew the Time spirit, but how he really didn't know. All he knew was that the spirits usually kept to themselves and only intervened in life if it was truly necessary.

The billionaire then remembered some things that Daniel had tried to do before coming to him that night. Daniel had gone into the Ghost Zone and travelled to the _Forbidden Region_ and… disappeared. Not even Skulker's instruments could pick up his ecto-signature.

After looking through the other hybrid's computer data, Vlad knew that that's where the _Realm Beyond Time_ was located, and that's probably where the Time Master lived as well.

"Perhaps, one of the spirits knows where these books are. That Time spirit, Clockwork was it, would most likely know. But would he even tell me?" Vlad mused to himself.

Deciding to leave that thought for later, Vlad exited the lab and prepared for bed himself.

* * *

**Phantom: OMG! This is amazing! Fantastic! Incredible! I'm just so happy I think I might cry!**

**Trainer: Hey, don't get mushy so soon, it's only the second chapter. Plus… there wasn't really anything huge to get emotional about. Why are you acting like that?**

**Phantom: Oh, I wasn't entirely talking about this chapter… but I'd like to make a dedication! *clears throat* Several days ago, I got amazing news. And I hope this will bring me luck in this story and my future ones. My music teacher is pregnant! And my piano accompanist for my exam got engaged! I would like to dedicate this to the two of them. How awesome is that?**

**Trainer: *speechless***

**Phantom: ok. Well, I have tons of plans for this fanfic and hope you all enjoy what's about to happen. If you don't understand the point of the books, don't worry. You'll understand in **_**Time**_**.**

**Trainer: did you really just make a time pun?**

**Phantom: Sorry I couldn't help myself. But really, I've had this story planned out for a while and it already has a sequel planned out too. So these ideas are really important for both stories.**

**Trainer: I wish you would let me in on these things.**

**Phantom: alright.**

***whispers several things to Trainer***

**Phantom: Ok. One. Two. Three!**

**Both: Stay tuned for more Danny and Vlad shenanigans. And tell us what you think by pressing that nice little button down there. Until next time! Phantom/Trainer OUT!**

**Phantom: *to Trainer* well I think that went pretty well.**

**Trainer: same here. Game time now?**

**Phantom: yeah!**


	3. Chapter 3: Road Trip

***Phantom appears in a puff of green smoke behind an object looking nervous***

**Phantom: *whispering* ok, so first off, I'm really sorry that it took me so long to create this chapter but there is such a thing as exams where I am right now. My teachers have been piling last minute work on us and it won't end until our exams start.**

**Trainer: *also whispering, starts looking around the area from behind the object* I know what you mean.**

**Phantom: no you don't, when I do work you're reading/playing things on your computer. Anyways, I have also been caught up in other writer's works, but I think we all know what that's like.**

**Trainer: for those of you that are wondering 'why are we hiding right now?' the answer is simple -**

**Phantom: yeah, we pulled some stuff on Vlad and he didn't really like it all that much.**

***Off in the distance, something was blown up. Trainer and Phantom duck from the singed debris***

**Vlad: Where are you? When I get my hands on you - *his voice fading into the distance***

**Trainer: *to Phantom, who is slightly nervous* it was totally worth it. *turning to the audience* I found a few really good lists about how to annoy a half-ghosts that were too good to pass up on, so with my accomplice, we pulled them off… sort of.**

**Phantom: so while we try to survive through the early chapters of my fanfic, please enjoy the third chapter of Ghostly Reunions.**

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Road Trip**

* * *

"Open file: GL – 1200," Vlad commanded his computer.

Almost instantly, a file under the name of 'ghost log' opened on the mainframe's screen, revealing a list of ghosts, their abilities, where to find them, and several other pieces of information related to the ghost.

Vlad stared tiredly at the screens, reviewing the information he had only looked at once or twice before now. When Daniel had left, Vlad decided that it would be reasonable if he "borrowed" some of the knowledge that Daniel had collected during his ghost-hunting career and add it to his own before returning the few items that had been left behind. It truly amazed Vlad at the amount of information that his young rival had obtained. He really didn't give the younger hybrid enough credit sometimes. There were plenty of ghosts in the database, each with detailed notes about who they were, what they were weak to and more.

Vlad let out a tired sigh as he scrolled through the list, but stopping when he came by two ghosts. The image of the first ghost was oh a yeti. His fur was white and he had horns and an arm made of ice.

Vlad narrowed his eyes as he remembered the ghost. He had ended up in a place called _The Far Frozen_, deep within the Ghost Zone. That infernal map had taken him back to where the map itself had started, and then the yeti-like ghosts of the area had frozen him! Not exactly the way he had planned to spend his day.

"Open file ghost relics, subsection mystery books: GR-MB 1200," Vlad commanded his mainframe, and the information that Skulker had brought him popped onto another screen.

He re-read the section that he was looking for with a determined, yet tired, expression plastered on his face. He had to make sure that he was getting the right ghost. Then he could continue as he sees fit.

The writing read:

_The first book has gone missing in the Forbidden Region due to the mysterious ghost who took it there. The remaining two are in possession of the ice ghosts of the Far Frozen._

…

_Filed missing: all three mystery books gone from where they were hidden. No trace as to where they've gone or who took them. Assumed to have gone into the Human World for some reason._

_Reported by Frostbite of the Far Frozen and anonymous ghost._

Yes, it was definitely those ghosts that froze him and had sided with Daniel. Now the only question remained; if he were to go and look for clues at one of these two places, would he be able to do it without anyone noticing him?

He could go to the _Forbidden Region_, but he wouldn't know for sure if it really was the Time spirit without further investigation. Not to mention it would be near impossible for him to know exactly where he needed to go once in the _Realm Beyond Time_.

Vlad didn't know that if you used the path that Danny had put in his ghost database, you were instantly transported to the inner sanctuary of Clockwork's tower.

However, if he went to the _Far Frozen_, he knew both how to get there but there was still the fact that these ice powered ghosts really didn't like him.

Vlad sigh again as he realized that he was trapped in a corner unless, by some chance, a miracle revealed itself to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying really hard not to succumb to his anger. But for him to receive a miracle was as likely as Daniel **willingly** joining him.

A sudden beeping brought the older hybrid out of his thoughts. He looked back at the screen and realized that the spy bug that was in the basement of the Fenton household was going off again.

"Now what can Daniel and his little troupe of friends be doing at this hour?" Vlad asked the empty space around him, truly confused as to why they had returned to their lab so soon.

* * *

Danny had woken with one thought in mind: he should go and visit Frostbite and maybe some of his other ghost friends today. It was still the weekend and he had gotten his work done yesterday before bed, even though he didn't pay much attention to the writing on the pages. But for the first time in a while, Danny had the whole day to goof off with his friends and maybe fight a ghost that decided to attack his home.

Danny went through his morning routine before heading down the stairs and into the kitchen where his sister was serving herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning Danny," She said as she saw him enter, only to turn to him with a questioning look and asking, "Why are you up so early? I would think you would want to in and have a break."

Danny smiled at her as he filled up TJ's food bowl before announcing, "I kind of want to go and visit some of our ghost friends today in the Ghost Zone. You know, just pop in and say hi. I never get to do it unless there's some big emergency, so I thought it would be nice to have a change in pace." He explained while a happy puppy waited by his feet for his morning meal.

"Danny, that's a great idea!" Jazz exclaimed. "I've always wanted to meet some of your ghost friends since I saw your ghost log. Some of them seem really nice!"

True, Jazz had never really seen any of his ghost friends, well except Clockwork. But Clockwork seemed to really like his family, so he didn't question it. Clockwork was not only his friend, but his mentor and guardian! And the Fenton siblings knew that he didn't enjoy seeing them come by harm's way.

It was obvious from his sister's expression that she expected him to take her along for the ride, meaning that Sam and Tucker wouldn't be too far behind. But it was still early, so he could tell them about the trip when they got to his house. Today was going to be a great day.

An hour later, Sam and Tucker had come by to see how Danny was; both had noticed his sudden lack of focus during their regular training session and wanted to make sure he was fine.

When they got there, they were surprised to see him in such a happy mood. Danny explained to them that he was going to visit his ghost friends that day and that they, along with Jazz, were more than welcome to come with him.

They all headed down into the lab and started to go do their own things to prepare for the trip. Once again, none of them noticed Vlad's little spy bug watching their every move.

They all agreed and started to pack what they each thought would be necessary:

Sam grabbed some wrist rays and stuck one on her wrist and the other in her boot; in case an annoying ghost managed to pry the one on her wrist off. She was thankful that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton made tons of them.

Tucker picked his usual ghost weapon; the ecto-gun disguised as a tube of lipstick. He really didn't know how to use any of the other weapons well. He also packed a stick of jerky and his PDA, which were safely tucked away in his backpack.

Jazz was a terrible aim, but she was getting better. She grabbed the Fenton Ghost Peeler as well as the Fenton Ghost Fisher and stuck them inside the Specter Speeder.

Finally, Danny packed a few sets of Fenton Phones so that they could all communicate while in the Ghost Zone. He really didn't need to pack anything else since he had his powers to back him up. It was also pointless to bring a thermos along since he would just end up sending the ghost inside back in there anyways. Totally pointless.

Once they were ready, they stood outside the Specter Speeder to decide what they would do now.

Sam was the one to voice the impeding question, "so Danny, which ghost do we get to visit first?" clearly she had an idea already up her sleeve.

Danny started to rub his chin. Honestly, he hadn't even thought about that. "I guess we should map out who we'll visit in order," he said with a shrug.

Everyone stared at him and then broke out laughing at his response. They had anticipated something like this happening and were ready to sit down and think their route through.

Tucker immediately pulled out his PDA and opened the files concerning Danny's allies. "Ok, so the ghosts that actually like you and you are constantly friends with include… Clockwork, Dairy King, Frostbite, the ghost dog also known as Cujo, Pandora, Wulf, um… the Observants at times… I guess, Dora and… Danielle, oh, I mean Dani," Tucker finished with a satisfied grin.

Danny had been busy counting the number of friends that he had. If you looked at the Observants as a group, then Danny had a total of nine ghosts that didn't hate him! That immediately made the half ghost smile. He had no idea that there were so many with him on things.

"So who do we see first?" Jazz inquired now that they knew who they could go to.

The room became silent as they each thought it through. Then the three friends voiced their ideas at the same time, "Clockwork/Wulf/Dora"

The threesome looked at each other and broke into another laughing fit. Of course they each had someone that they really wanted to see. So they went back to square one and figured who they could visit easily and who they would have to run into while travelling.

Clockwork and the Observants were always in the _Realm Beyond Time_ so they could visit them last, or on their way at any time. Cujo and Wulf were always travelling around, but they somehow knew where to find Danny so they would see those two soon. Dora and Pandora lived in their own abodes so they were near the top of the list. Finally, there was Dairy King, which Danny only ever seemed to see while at Vlad's in Wisconsin, and Dani, whom he and his friends hadn't seen since the incident several months ago. They would be the hardest to visit.

Danny recalled how Dani had told him that she spent most of her time in the Ghost Zone to keep herself somewhat stabilized until she found a way to heal herself. She had claimed herself a small island that he had passed once or twice, and hopefully she was there. He really wanted to apologize to her about everything that happed.

They then decided that they would first visit Frostbite. They hadn't seen him since Danny had first learned his ice abilities, and now was a good time to show his teacher what he had learned. He didn't really like having the entire population of the _Far Frozen_ fear him because he had terrible aim when it came to his new powers.

Then Jazz recalled something that had been bugging her since her brother had told her about his and Vlad's last confrontation. "Does anyone know where Vlad is?"

Everyone gave her a puzzled look. So she explained, "I mean, you said that Vlad came and attacked you for a reason that none of us know, and then just left. Well that's just it! We haven't heard a word about our 'oh-so-wonderful' mayor at all. So, where is he?"

Danny looked at her, finally realising that he hadn't really thought about it and that he should have. "I-I don't actually know," he confessed. Vlad had all but disappeared after the fight, and normally if he found that his parents weren't around, he would pay them an annoying visit. But once again, nothing.

A small beeping brought him out of his troubled thoughts and he stared at his techno-loving friend. Tucker then announced, "It says in the mayor's schedule that he's going to be at his Wisconsin home for some time for what I presume he's said to be running his companies."

Well that solved that mystery. Vlad was at his original home away from the town. That made things a little easier for team Phantom. It meant that if they left the area of the town for a while, he wouldn't necessarily know. Today really was turning out to be the best day.

Danny smiled at his friends and sister before saying, "today is going to be one of the best days I've ever had!" They all smiled back, genuinely looking forward to the day's events and all that was to come with it.

The four of them, finally clearing up any doubts, entered the speeder and headed into the Ghost Zone to their first stop of many that day; The Far Frozen.

* * *

Vlad couldn't believe his luck! Daniel and his little group were going where he needed to be. With them distracting the attentions of the ice ghosts, he could look around for clues to those mysterious books.

Why Frostbite had two of the three books was beyond him, but it was best to go to where he had a better chance of finding more information, and possibly a few answers.

He had put a lot of time and effort into these books, and he was determined to at least obtain one. He had been fussing over the documents that Skulker had brought him and he had found something that couldn't be a coincidence.

The first book had many similarities to his own abilities and, although he had never seen it in real life, he had an idea as to its design.

It was his dream that night, the reason he had troubles getting back to sleep now. He was holding a glowing book with a blood-red gem in the centre of it. At each of the corners was a small white gem that looked like a pearl. Then, around the middle gem, there were four red, oval gems pointing out to each side of the cover. The main body of the book was black and the trim/decorations on the edges and around the centre gem was a beautiful gold.

The book overall was a work of art and he knew that he had to obtain it. It was like the book was meant for him, and he would have it.

The other thing that he found was that the first book had been seen around the same time that he became a half ghost. When his accident happened. He had originally just brushed it off as nothing more than a coincidence until now.

The second book had appeared around the time Daniel had his accident. And then the last one a few months after, which he assumed to be when he created Danielle. The appearance of these books did have a pattern, an unconventional one, but a pattern no less.

They came into existence when a half-ghost was formed or made in some cases. That would mean a world of possibilities for the future. If both Daniel and Danielle had children, and they inherited their parents' ghostly powers, then another book would form. But since neither of the two half-ghost teens would be having children any time soon; he couldn't test his hypothesis… unless.

Vlad pulled up the file containing Clockwork's information again and knew that if he could somehow get into his realm, then he may be able to see if his assumption was correct. He could see the day he became a hybrid, and then in turn see if on that very same day the first book was made. It was brilliant, to say the least.

Vlad tuned back in to what his spy bug was recording. Danny and his friends had been talking for a while now, but it was tedious to listen to so Vlad had gone back to the information concerning the books.

Danny and the group with him had decided to go to the _Far Frozen_ just like he needed them to. All he had to do was follow them around the Ghost Zone to certain destinations to collect his prize.

Then, when he was about to wait for them on the other side of their portal, he heard Jazz say something that made him stay put until it was over.

"_Does anyone know where Vlad is?" _the red headed girl asked.

Everyone gave her a puzzled look.

She explained_, "I mean, you said that Vlad came and attacked you for a reason that none of us know, and then just left. Well that's just it! We haven't heard a word about our 'oh-so-wonderful' mayor at all. So, where is he?"_

Danny had looked utterly confused until he finally answered,_ "I-I don't actually know." _

A small beeping brought attention to techno-loving boy. He was holding out his PDA, trying to find , Tucker then announced_, "It says in the mayor's schedule that he's going to be at his Wisconsin home for some time for what I presume he's said to be running his companies."_

Vlad was both relieved and annoyed at the scene that just happened. Not only did he find out that Daniel's little friend was even more annoying than he thought, but he now had a cover thanks to said boy. If something happened, they couldn't blame him. And if Daniel ever felt him nearby, he knew Danny would just think it was his imagination playing tricks on him. Everything was set on his end.

Vlad watched as Danny smiled at his friends and sister before saying, _"today is going to be one of the best days I've ever had!"_ before he and team Phantom climbed into the speeder and zoomed into the Ghost Zone.

* * *

Vlad smiled to himself before transforming into Plasmius. "Oh yes Daniel, today will **definitely** be one of the best days ever," he replied with pleased grin on his face. He took one more look at the information, knowing that Danny would lead him right to both Frostbite and Clockwork, and then ventured into the swirling green mass that was the Ghost Zone.

"So how long do you think it will take for us to visit every one?" Sam questioned after a few minutes of silence. She really hated it when they went into the Ghost Zone and these awkward silences enveloped them. It was too creepy for its own good.

Danny was outside the Specter Speeder in his ghost form floating lazily beside it as they travelled to the far regions of the Ghost Zone. He had transformed as soon as they were within the swirling green and purple atmosphere and was just enjoying the feeling.

He hadn't turned on his Fenton Phone, partially by accident but also on purpose. He wanted to have a few minutes to enjoy being in the Ghost Zone for a reason that didn't involve the end of the world or saving somebody or anything.

It was only when Sam opened the Speeder and fired a weak blast from her wrist ray that he reluctantly turned on his headphones are joined in the conversation.

"you know, you could kill somebody by doing that," Danny said, his irritation leaking out of his voice.

"Well that's what you get for being cocky. Not to mention you were being rude," Sam countered as she sat back down, please with her work.

"I think you've become way too attached to that wrist ray Sam," Tucker commented, noticing how often she would use it.

Once again, Sam countered her friend, "I'm not the only one here who's become attached to a certain ghost weapon."

Both Jazz and Danny laughed, knowing that what she said was true. Meanwhile, Tucker scowled at being disproven when he finally thought that he had gotten one on his Goth friend.

"Also, can you really blame me? The Fenton Phones are a great accessory in terms of looks, but the wrist rays… well, they're the **perfect** accessory… of pain," Sam finished with sadistic pleasure written plainly on her face. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that these two devices were her best friends on the battle field.

Danny jumped in, seeing that his friends might start something, ending with Tucker regretting it, "To answer your previous question Sam, it may take something close to an hour, maybe even an hour-and-a-half."

Sam sighed but just stared out the window for some time, taking in the floating islands and atmosphere. Clearly, being stuck inside such a confined space was not her idea of a weekend with friends.

Vlad, on the other hand, had been busy following the teens, only to stop from time to time to make sure that he wasn't being found out. After a while, he ended up floating right next to Danny, and Danny didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Either he didn't notice or he thought it was just one of the many residents of the Ghost Zone. Either way, Vlad now knew that he could travel with them without them actually knowing he was there. He doubted that it would do the group any good to turn on a tracker, so they probably wouldn't even turn it on. Yes, everything was turning out good for Vlad.

Sure enough, Danny was right. They were able to see the Far Frozen on the horizon after just an hour of flying. Danny's eyes light up with happiness as he turned over to face the incoming landmass. He really couldn't wait to see everyone again, and what better way to start their day than to visit Frostbite first. He was really looking forward to it.

Everyone, including the invisible Vlad, could see that Danny was about to shoot off at top speed to the frozen land in front of them and they weren't in any mood to stop him. Danny's friends and sister knew how much this meant to him, seeing as it was his idea in the first place. Vlad, on the other hand, just wanted to use the young hybrid as his decoy while he snuck in and out of the places he needed to get into, but he did like seeing Daniel happy and acting like the child he was for once.

Danny's legs were about to turn into his spectral tail as he started to pick-up speed when a green blur sped by, but not before it grabbed his leg and started dragging him around the empty space in front of the speeder.

The group just stared at their half-ghost friend as the green blur continued to drag him this way and that. Then, unable to hold it in any longer, they burst into another fit of laughter at the expense of the younger hybrid.

Vlad too was enjoying the scene before him. He wasn't even paying attention to anything around him except for the four teens he was secretively travelling with. This was a priceless moment that he wished he could get on camera. Too bad he didn't have one, oh wait… he did.

Vlad pulled out another of his spy bugs, and while keeping both him and the little robot invisible, he recorded the ongoing comedy that was his young rival being subdued by some unknown small blur.

Danny finally managed to slow him and his captor down enough to see who he or she was. Those watching didn't see, but when Danny had been dragged off, a little pink dog toy instantly hit his face, likely coming out of his captor's grasp. Danny quickly grabbed the toy in his gloved hand and began to squeeze it.

The sound was barely heard by the bystanders, but when the little green blur came to a stop, it and the half-ghost teen started to fall over each other and landed in a pile on a nearby island.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz brought the speeder closer to their friend and brother as he propped himself up with his arms with his captor sitting on his stomach, clearly happy to see him.

Danny blinked away the stars in his eyes, and the little yapping puppy sitting on him brought his attention back tenfold. Danny smiled as he picked up the little green dog and brought him over to his friends and sister who were making their way out of the speeder to meet them.

Cujo barked happily between the four teens and the unknown Vlad Plasmius. Vlad, of course, remembered the little puppy from the time that he and Danny had gone to retrieve the order's crystal. He still didn't know how Daniel knew the small ghost, but he had a feeling that he was about to find out right now.

"Well, I didn't expect to meet up with Cujo before meeting everyone else," Jazz stated, clearly finding her brother's predicament funny. "I was wondering how you able to handle TJ so easily. Apparently, this little guy was your first pet."

"More like my first dead pet," Danny remarked. "It's like I have a dog for both sides of me, the Fenton and the Phantom," he added as he scratched the puppy's head while it contently wagged its tail.

"Yeah, I still remember when we first met him. After that, I'm surprised that Valerie and her dad had anything left," Sam commented. She smiled as she remembered the looks of shock on Valerie's face during those few days.

Jazz stood there utterly confused. What did this adorable puppy have to do with Valerie? "What are you guys talking about?" she questioned.

All three of the other teens shared a smirk before Danny stepped up to tell his sister the story involving Cujo and how they met.

"ok, so it was basically like this: after the whole thing with Spectra and you finding out my secret, Cujo kind of dug his way out of the Ghost Zone and through the doors to the portal. I caught him and sent him back, but then he kept on coming back and finding me and Valerie just happened to be in those areas too. Eventually, she and her father ended up in the position they're in now. Unfortunately, she now finds that Danny Phantom is the cause of all her recent troubles, and… she's technically not that far off. She's the Red Huntress and has been hunting every time a ghost appears in town… um, like me I guess. But for her it's for revenge on me and _my _kind," Danny said as his sister continued to listen, as did Vlad.

"So, eventually, Cujo here brought me back to Axion Labs. He was about to cause some really big problems for everyone until I showed up with this," he said as he pointed to the squeaky toy in the ghost puppy's mouth. "Ever since then, Cujo has sort of thought of me as his new owner, but I honestly can't complain too much, I kind of like it," he admitted.

His sister smiled at him and was about to help him up when he did it himself, picking the puppy up as he stood. The little dog yapped happily at having all the attention on him. Suddenly, Tucker piped in, "why don't we bring Cujo with us, we can use the Fenton Fisher as a leash."

"Yeah, because that worked SO well the last time, when we tied him to a tree!" Sam said sarcastically.

Danny and Tucker looked at each other, knowing exactly what she meant. But this time was different; this time they were in the Ghost Zone where nothing could be broken and he could watch Cujo all the time here.

"There shouldn't be a problem while we're here though, so I think we should be ok to bring him along, that is, if he wants to come with us," Danny said as he looked down at the excited puppy.

Cujo barked something that just sounded like random noises to the three humans, but to Danny and Vlad, it was Cujo replying to Danny's unasked question. He wanted to come along and play with his friends.

With that out of the way, Danny and the group continued towards their first destination.

* * *

When they arrived, they were greeted with open arms.

Frostbite came out to greet them himself and grabbed each of them in a bone-crushing hug. Well… all except Cujo. He just watched with a wide puppy grin.

As they caught up with the ghosts of the_ Far Frozen_, Vlad snuck off to find his own clues to the mystery books.

He floated invisibly through the frozen town, looking at the different buildings trying to decide where to start. His first stop would have to be the most obvious location about any of these relics; the place the Infi-map was held.

He travelled to the place he recalled the map to have been placed and looked around the area for anything that could point to where the books might now be. He saw the chest that he knew the Infi-map was in. He made a mental note to return for the map one day, without the consequences of being frozen like last time.

He saw a few images on the wall, but stopped on one that resembled a person with two rings around the figures' waist. It was that of an adult as far as he could tell. As he continued to look around, he saw a similar image, but it was of two figures, both smaller than the original he had just seen.

His eyebrows creased as the wheels in his head started to spin in high gear. Three figures resembling him, Daniel and Daniel, in a place like this. He must be getting close. As he turned a corner, he saw another figure, but this one was different from the last. The place it was in was secluded from the rest of the cave, like it was a huge secret or something. It was also an adult figure, but the demeanour of it was… was almost frightening. It was like it radiated pure evil.

Vlad shook himself out of his shock and continued deeper into the secret cave. When it became very dark, he made his hand glow with his power and found that he was reaching a dead end.

"_Wonderful, just what I needed. A dead end, just when I was getting somewhere,"_ Vlad mused annoyed. Just when he thought he should turn back, he reached the far wall and saw another image.

"_Now who would put something like this all the way down here where no one can see it?"_ the older hybrid deliberated, a ghost of a grin spreading like wild fire across his face.

He got closer to the wall and found that it was an image of four rectangles surrounding what looked like a ghost portal with a figure standing in the middle of it. And not just any kind of ghost portal, but the kind that humans created to enter the Ghost Zone.

Piecing bits and pieces together, Vlad came to the conclusion that the portal represented ghosts, or perhaps even the idea of **being** a ghost. The figure inside it was a human. So the two images together could be a human becoming a ghost, or more specifically, a hybrid; like the accidents that happened for one to come into being. The rectangles could be the books he was looking for. One of them certainly resembled the one he had seen in his dream and there was a pedestal below the entire image; large enough to hold a book.

Vlad knew he was on the right track, but he couldn't take this or any of the other images with him for further research. Then it dawned on him. He pulled out his spy bug and began taking pictures of the walls, the surrounding areas, and the pedestal.

Happy with his work so far, he returned to where Daniel and his friends were. They were still talking to Frostbite.

* * *

Danny and company didn't even notice Vlad coming back to them, since they didn't even know he was there. They had been catching up and observing how far Danny's ability over his ice powers had grown. He was quite proud of himself for even being able to go that far in such a small amount of time.

Frostbite was also surprised and congratulated the young hero, considering that the last time they had seen each other was under worse circumstances and he hadn't been able to complete his training.

After taking for a little while, Jazz and Danny noticed something about Frostbite. He seemed troubled about something, and with a glance at each other, they confirmed that they were going to talk about it. In unison, the Fenton kids asked their question, "Frostbite, what's wrong?"

Frostbite stared at them in disbelief, like someone had just blown his secret and he wasn't prepared for it to happen. As he looked between the four concerned faces of his friends, he realised that he couldn't hide it from them since they had asked.

"I am sorry my friends, it is just that… some relics have gone missing from our land, and much like the Infi-map, it was our responsibility to guard them until we gave them to their proper owners," the yeti leader told them. "We have only had them for a few months but I believe I can tell you what I know, if you'll keep an eye out for them," he finished.

All four nodded. They knew what ghostly relics could do in the wrong hands. Freakshow was a perfect example, since he used both the Reality Gauntlet and that Mind-controlling gem on past occasions.

Frostbite motion them to follow, and when they were out of sight from prying eyes, the yeti-like ghost began to tell them about the two missing books, what he knew about them, how there were two other books; one which was known and stolen and the other which was kept secret by its current protector to which no one knew about except for him. He told them that they were appearing randomly and there was no telling when another would appear, to which the invisible Vlad had to hold back a scoff.

Vlad, himself however, hadn't been expecting there to actually be four books. The missing report had only filed that three books were missing, but now to find that there was a forth book hiding somewhere gave Vlad another option should this one fail. This pleased him greatly.

When team Phantom had heard all that their friend had to say, they told him that they would keep an eye out for the books and report to him if they found anything leading to retrieving the items. Just as they started to leave the dwelling, Frostbite stopped Danny in his tracks. Danny's friends looked back at him, but sensing that Frostbite wanted to tell him something in private, he told them to go on to the Specter Speeder without him and that he would catch up.

As the rest of team Phantom left, Vlad stayed rooted to his spot. He was not letting this moment of privacy between Daniel and Frostbite go unseen by him. He needed all the leads he could get for the books.

Danny turned to face his snowy friend only to have a confused look when he did. Frostbite looked very serious, something that he had been hiding all morning from him and his friends.

Frostbite looked down at the boy in front of him, pondering what the best way to reveal this last bit of information. Finally he spoke, "Great one, I'm sorry that you had to become involved in such a manner, especially when you had come wishing to just visit."

Danny's face instantly brightened as he said, "don't worry about it. It's not like you could have planned it or anything."

Frostbite instantly felt gratitude towards the young halfa before him. He did understand, and that's what pushed the yeti to continue, "You are right, I could not have foreseen this happening, but I believe you are acquainted with someone who may have known." Frostbite pulled a medallion out of his clothing and handed it to Danny. He recognized it immediately. It was one of Clockwork's medallions, and that could only mean one thing; something big **was** going to happen.

"He came to visit me when the two books I had were stolen. He wanted me to tell you that whoever took them wasn't in the time stream at **that** time and that the final book is with him," Frostbite said, but then he continued, "he also wanted me to tell you that this is only the beginning of what is to come, and that he expects to see you soon, but I don't know why."

Danny smiled and thanked Frostbite for the warm visit, and then met the rest of his group back at the speeder with Vlad in tow before they took off again. Now Danny had to talk to Clockwork about a few things when he saw him, and possibly visit him again, but alone. With a sigh from the ghost boy, they headed to their next stop; Dora the Dragon ghost's abode.

* * *

Another hour had passed and the medieval section of the Ghost Zone was just coming over the horizon. All the travellers were happy to see it because they really wanted some time out of the Specter Speeder… well, all except Danny and Vlad who had been flying outside the entire time. Cujo had become tired and went inside the speeder for a nap, to which many were confused concidering that they were talking about the same hyperactive bipolar ghost dog that they had only known to be on-the-move. That didn't really matter, Cujo falling asleep made things easier for this part of their trip.

Danny and Sam, especially Sam, wanted to see Dora again. The last they knew, she had been helping them free her kingdom from her tyrant bother's control. But that's also what made Danny worried, which Vlad was the only one who noticed. Danny had told him about several of his fights, but none involving any beings from this region of the Ghost Zone. So for the first time that day, Vlad was curious as to Danny's reaction and constant fidgeting.

"Danny, calm down," Sam insisted, "I'm sure everything is fine in the kingdom now that Aragon isn't in rule anymore." Though she wasn't all that sure either. It had taken all of them; her, Danny and Dora to defeat the dragon maid's brother. If he was to suddenly come out wanting to fight Danny, she was sure hoping that it was for a friendly battle.

Almost as if on cue, a black dragon shot up from the castle and sped towards them. It came to a halt before them, red eyes gleaming and fangs showing. It let out a furious roar, trying to intimidate them.

Well, it worked for the most part. Tucker looked like he was about to wet his pants, Jazz froze and stopped the speeder before they crashed into the large ghost, and Sam hit her forehead clearly punishing herself for saying something that usually got them into trouble.

Danny, on the other hand, just couldn't believe his luck. Of all the ghosts in this area, why did it have to be the one that probably had a grudge on him?

Then the black dragon spoke to them, in the angriest voice they had ever heard, "Phantom, why are you her?" but noticing the Gothic girl inside the flying machine, he added bitterly, "And why have you brought your girlfriend with you? Is it not bad enough that you both ruined my wedding plans, not to mention over throne me from my rule?"

Danny and Sam immediately came out of their thoughts at the questions, but answered something that had been only a part of a question in unison, "She's/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend!"

The two teens had started to blush when Aragon roared again and breathed flames at the entire group. Danny put up a shield while his sister drove the Specter Speeder out of reach of the impending fight.

Vlad had also moved out of the way, not wishing to blow his cover because of one of Daniel's many enemies.

When the smoke cleared, Danny dove out of the way of a black claw that had come at him from his right only to find that Aragon had also used his other claw to swipe from the left, trying to crush him in between the two. Danny turned intangible at the last second and flew out of the ghost dragon's grasp.

"Whoa! That was too close," Danny said before trying to talk with the agitated dragon, "Aragon, I'm not here to fight you! I'm just visiting your sis–"

Danny didn't even get to finish his so-called 'talk' with Aragon. The prince had sent him flying straight down onto the island below, not wishing to hear anything the ghost boy in front of him had to say.

Danny didn't get the chance to get back up. Aragon sent one of his powerful claws to step on the half-ghost teen. Danny was knocked out after that. He lay motionless in the crater the impact had created. Aragon was satisfied and headed back for the rest of the young halfa's companions.

"Now if you know what's good for you, you will tell me why you are in my kingdom and why I shouldn't crush you like I did that pest," Aragon threatened, furthering his point by pointing to Danny's unconscious body.

Tucker and Jazz were at a loss for words. Neither of them had ever met Aragon, but if he could take down Danny so easily, they knew he was trouble.

Sam, however, jumped out of the speeder and stood on top of it, her wrist ray charged to fire. "I'm only going to say this once, so you better not try anything," Sam began. "We only came here to visit Dora, so if you don't mind, we'd still like to do so," she finished, already annoyed that Aragon had attacked first and asked questions later.

Aragon stared back at the Goth girl, clearly not liking her from their last encounter, but replying anyways, "Dorathea is back at the castle currently. Besides, why should I let you, any of you enter my kingdom?"

"Oh, come on!" Sam said as she raised her arms. "We just want to pop in for a minute and talk to her. If you won't let us enter than what if she came out her to meet us?"

Aragon looked at Sam, and then at the defeated Danny who was now making his way out of the hole he was in. Facing Sam again, the black dragon said, "I will retrieve her for you, but you are to not enter my land. Besides, I am now even with that annoying flea." As he made a side glance at Danny before flying off towards his home.

Danny flew over to his friends and saw that Sam was sitting on top of the speeder. Now confused, he asked, "What just happened?"

As Sam and the other's filled him in on what Aragon had been doing, Dora made her way to them as soon as she found out that her friends had come to see her. As she came within ear shot, she heard Danny scream, "you mean he just wanted to get even with me?"

When Dora was close enough, she turned into her humanoid form and greeted the small party. Everyone turned their attention to the dragon maid and immediately smiled. Dora didn't need to hear from them what her brother had done before telling her that they were at her home to visit her. Her brother had barged into the room she was in and joyfully told her that he had beaten Danny Phantom.

"I am so sorry that Aragon had gotten to you all first," the dragon maid said before anyone could respond.

"It's ok Dora. It's not like you had known about us coming anyways. If this gets Aragon off my back, it was totally worth the beating," Danny said as he smiled and hugged his ghostly friend.

They had spent around an hour talking and sharing new stories with each other, when Cujo finally woke up. The dragon maid and the ghost dog hit it off instantly and became good friends. But knowing that they had more ghosts to visit, they said their good-byes and ventured off into the Ghost Zone once more.

Although Danny still wanted to see his friends and continue doing what he wanted that day, he couldn't stop thinking about the books that Frostbite had told him about and how Clockwork was also involved. Even when a problem involved one of the two, it usually meant that the problem needed to be fixed quickly. But since both of them were involved… well, Danny couldn't decide if this was worse than when Pariah Dark almost took over Amity Park.

Danny shook his head, knowing what the correct answer was. "_Nope, definitely worse."_ Danny scolded himself.

Focusing on where they were going, they floated through the wide green space to each of the abodes they were going to visit.

* * *

It was now the afternoon, and team Phantom had successfully visited Frostbite, Cujo, Dora (and Aragon, unexpectedly), Pandora, and the Dairy King, who happened to be at Pandora's for a visit as well. There were only four more beings to find before they finished their route.

Danny had hoped to see Dani soon. He couldn't wait to see her again, if she would let him.

Then, off in the distance, Danny heard someone shouting his name. He stopped and looked back in the direction that they had just come from. Who was calling him?

Just as he was about to catch up with the others, he heard the voice even closer. It was a girl's voice that he knew all too well. He turned in time to see his 'cousin' rushing towards him as fast as she could go without wasting too much energy.

The two Phantoms embraced each other in a hug and were reluctant to separate. Finally Danny spoke, "Dani, it's good to see you. How are you faring, um… with the whole staying-stabilized thing?"

Danielle looked up at her cousin and smiled. "I'm doing better, but I still feel tired at times when I overdo it," she admitted.

Danny laughed and picked her up again before zooming off to his friends and sister, who had stopped, finally noticing that their hybrid bother and friend was missing. When he phased into the speeder, Vlad raised an eyebrow and phased in himself, making sure that no one noticed his presence.

As Danny turned human again, he put the little half-ghost girl in his arms down and sat on the floor. He really needed the break from flying, and he could use a nap. Everyone in the speeder looked at Danielle and were happy to have caught her, or more precisely, have her catch them.

Danielle was also happy to see them. She told them of her time in the Ghost Zone, where she was currently living, and how Frostbite had sent someone to her and told her that Danny and his friends were out looking for people.

Danny then invited the young girl to travel with them for the rest of the trip, to which she was more than happy to agree to.

While Sam, Tucker and Jazz continued to control the flying machine. Danny and Danielle retired to the back of the contraption with Cujo for a well-deserved rest.

Vlad decided that he needed a break too and remained in the speeder with the others. He remained out of sight, but moved into the back as well.

As the two halfas moved into the beds, Cujo jumped onto Danny's bed and curled himself under Danny's arm.

"Danny, where did you get that ghost puppy?" Dani question sleepily.

Danny just smiled at her and said, "I'll tell you when we wake up." And like that he was asleep. Dani followed his example and was soon asleep too, but in her ghost form. Vlad regained his visibility and looked at the two children on either side of his body.

Even though both of them had betrayed him in one form or another, he couldn't help but feel the need to care for them. Daniel was the son he had always wished for and, although she had been an accident, Danielle was his only true daughter and child. Smiling at the thought of them both being his kids, Vlad disappeared and sat on the floor between the beds, and waited for them to arrive at their final destination: Clockwork's Tower within the _Realm Beyond Time_.

* * *

**Phantom: hey there everyone. I'm still hiding and Trainer and I got separated. But before you all decide to blow my cover let me just apologize. I know, I know, I left it at a cliff-hanger, but I assure you that it was necessary! How else was I to keep everyone on the edges of their seats?**

**Voice from nowhere: Oh, I don't know. How about we see what that's like, hmmm?**

**Phantom: oh crud.**

**Vlad appears from behind Phantom and grabs her.**

**Vlad: I'm not going to lie to you, since you gave me so many opportunities in this chapter. This will be unpleasant.**

**Vlad immobilizes Phantom with ecto-whips.**

**Phantom: Oh, come on. I was just the tool, THE TOOL! How was I supposed to know what was going to happen?**

**Vlad: I guess you should have thought of that before you did what you did.**

**Phantom: and I'm guessing you already caught my sister.**

**Vlad: Yes.**

**Phantom: *sigh* Ok, readers. While I try to sort this out, why not press that blue button on the bottom of the screen and tell me what you thought of the latest chapter.**

**Phantom OUT!**

**Vlad: I would do what she asked, or you'll have to deal with me.**

***Vlad vanishes in a puff of pink smoke carrying the tied up Phantom***


	4. Chapter 4: Frightful Untold Encounters

**Phantom: Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd we're back! Sorry about the wait everyone, but I had exams this week and a lot of last minute work for classes were due last week, so, yeah.**

**Trainer: *hits Phantom upside the head* stop rambling and get on with it. Otherwise I'll tell how we escaped from Vlad.**

**Phantom: oh! Do that! I need a minute anyways. Don't worry everyone, Vlad's ok, but we're still not on his good list.**

**Trainer: Alright, I'll tell them. I can never get enough when it comes to putting Vlad in a tough spot, especially when it was so simple.**

**Phantom: *steps away slowly* oh… kay. Just tell the story.**

**Trainer: fine. So while Vlad had us locked up, Phantom and I started scheming a way out of it. Apparently, Phantom got out of her bindings and then slowly began to break mine. When Vlad had grabbed me, I had my guitar on me and… ok you know what, I'll give you the short version.**

**Phantom: *from a room in the back* Almost done!**

**Trainer: Crud! Ok look, long story short, when the two of us became freed, Phantom turned us invisible and I grabbed my guitar. Without Vlad noticing, we snuck up behind him and… *snicker* I HIT HIM WITH MY GUITAR! I've always wanted to do that!**

**Phantom: yes, yes, you got to live out one of your dreams before your life caves in around you.**

**Trainer: not cool, you loved it just as much as I did.**

**Phantom: True. Anyways, before we get on with the chapter, I just want to make a shout-out. Another DP fanfic writer has just finished her first story and I loved it. Gemini, this one's for you! *Shoots several rays into the sky, exploding in the shape of the DP symbol* can't wait to see what you do next, and thank you for reading this story and commenting since the beginning.**

**Trainer: that was so cute… I think I want to puke.**

**Phantom: oh, shut it. On with the show!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Frightful Untold Encounters**

* * *

Everything was dark,** too** dark. It was darker than a room painted completely black with the lights out and your eyes shut tight. He couldn't even imagine another time that everything had been this dark. Not even Sam's room was this dark!

Danny moved from his original position, only to realise that he was lying on the ground, in a pile of rubble and debris.

Lifting himself onto his knees, he looked around the area only to wish he hadn't. There were broken bricks, smoking ditches, and several other signs of one of his usual ghost battles. Looking at himself, his eyes widened with horror and fear as he looked himself over.

He was wearing his trademark red and white T-shirt, tattered and worn with several rips and singes all over it. He had to assume that he had received it during… whatever battle he was just in. His blue jean just confirmed the same thing, with similar evidence as well.

Then another thought came to mind as he stood up, his legs wobbling under him. "_Did – did I win?"_ was all Danny could think about until a familiar sound just a few feet in front of him caught his full attention. Not even the ach he was feeling from his body could stop him from doing what he was about to do.

He began to run towards the sound. _"No, NO!"_ Danny thought. "This can't be happening, it CAN'T be happening, it's impossible!" Danny told himself, even though the noise told him otherwise.

He came around a smoldering chunk of concrete and froze. There, before him, was a toppled Nasty Burger sign. And not too far from that, was the Nasty sauce vat; full, flammable, and had all his loved ones and teacher too close to it for comfort.

Danny made a dash to them, to stop the ensuing disaster; to prevent what he knew would happen if he didn't stop what happened next.

He tried to call out to them, to warn them of their impeding danger. Heck, he would have screamed if that would get their attention. But every time he opened his mouth, nothing but air came out, no sound what-so-ever. NO! This couldn't be happening!

He was less than twenty feet from them, so close yet so far out of reach. He tried to transform, but the white rings only fizzled out of existence as he continued to sprint towards his friends, family and teacher; his only support in life. These were the only people that Danny could rely on in his times of need.

Well… there was always Vlad. Danny had learned that he could trust Vlad with his life… and that was in the most literal sense of the phrase! But if Danny lost them, his support, for real… he didn't know if he would be able to survive from the pain he would feel, even with Vlad, and possibly Dani's, help.

Then, everything seemed to stand still. Not only did he see it but he heard it. The explosion that signalled his loved one's demise, and his unhappy future. The blast sent Danny backwards and tumbling to the ground. He heard sirens approaching the scene, but he didn't even care. The last thought that ran through his mind was, "_why did it have to be them? Why not me?"_ And then, everything returned to blackness.

…

"Daniel?" A voice said, "Daniel, can you open your eyes?"

Danny tried to turn his head towards the voice, but found that he could barely do that. He tried to sit up from his position, but was shocked when all he received was an intense pain shooting through his back. Danny clenched his eyes even move shut, hoping that the pain would subside.

"Don't try and move, my boy. You're still badly injured from… previous events." The voice ended sadly.

Finally having the pain that he caused ebb away, Danny was able to focus enough to recognize the voice that kept addressing him. There was only **one** person that he knew that would call him by his given name and 'my boy'.

Danny opened his eyes. He moved his gaze around the area almost instantly recognizing where he was. The green and gold decorations and colour scheme of the room, the huge bed he was lying in, everything was how it looked before he had gotten to this exact room a little over seven months.

The young half-ghost blinked a few times, but continued to look around himself for the other hybrid; knowing that he was in the room somewhere.

It didn't take long to find him. Vlad was sitting on the edge of the bed that Danny was in, staring at him with his own sad, pained, blue eyes. Their eyes met and they just… stared at each other for some time.

Finally, Danny found his voice and said the only thing he could, "Vlad." His voice was dry, but all he needed to do was say that one name for his emotions to overflow from within him.

Danny looked away, only too sure of what all this could mean, and several tears fell from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Vlad's eyebrows creased with even more sadness as he stared at the fallen boy before him. He pulled the handkerchief from his suit's pocket and started to wipe away the crying child's tears. It was all he could do for now to comfort him.

Then, Vlad said, "I'm so sorry Daniel. Not even I would have wanted this. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

But all that the older hybrid was saying was landing on deaf ears as Danny continued to cry. Then, the scene started to fade and turned black.

…

Danny didn't know what was happening. He was living scenes, moments, from his life… no, his alternate life. The timeline that would have never happened; he was living out the beginning of it.

He looked around him again, but there was nothing except the blackness that came before each new moment. Suddenly, a bright flash came out of nowhere and struck Danny squarely in the stomach. The hybrid was sent flying backwards and tumbled over himself as his body met the ground.

It was only when he heard someone laugh did he turn his full attention to them. A figure approached from the darkness, still laughing in that same evil, malicious, and dreadful voice. The being had his hand still glowing with ecto-plasmic green energy. That was all the light that the two beings in the area needed to see each other.

Danny instantly froze in fear at who it was. The black and white jumpsuit, the flaming white hair, and the red hateful eyes where more than enough to distinguish this particular ghost from any other. Danny began to move backwards only to trip, which was received with another laugh from the ghost before him.

"I-I-I-It's not possible. Y-Y-Y-You c-can't be h-here!" Danny stuttered through his shock.

The figure just approached the fallen teen with a sick and twisted grin on his face. "Oh, please. Don't tell me you thought that that ridiculous thermos that our parents created could really contain me forever did you?" The man in front of him said as he came to a stop before his fallen form.

Danny stared back with all the hate he could muster and said, "I beat you before, I can do it again."

The ghost just smiled wickedly, "Oh really? And how will you do that? Is it A) with your sidekicks? No, they can't help you. B) Your family? Unlikely. They don't even know that their own son is the elusive Ghost Boy. C) You? Ha ha ha, you could barely stop me the first time. It was only with Clockwork's help that things turned out differently. Or, D) none of the above?" He smiled down at the wide-eyed teen.

Danny dodged a blast from the evil ghost shooting him. "NO! I beat you with my own powers. Clockwork saved my family that day. I'll never turn into you!" Danny stated as his transformation rings appeared around his torso and turned him into phantom.

"Ha ha ha ha, you are such a child," Dan replied. "Is it because you _promised _them?" He mocked his younger self, using the words he said before he was defeated. Dan stepped closer to the ghost teen.

Danny jumped into the air, trying to manoeuvre around Dan but failed. Dan grabbed Danny by the neck and brought him closer so that the two of them were face to face. Dan stared to laugh again, "You know, for you, this is like looking into a future mirror. But for me," he stated as his smile became a frown, "it's like looking back at what I used to be."

Dan then sent his energy into the hand not holding Danny, and waited for the young hybrid's reaction. It was almost instant and Danny began to try and pry his evil self off of him. Dan just laughed again before he smiled and said, "I'll be seeing you soon Danny, just remember this: **I'm** still here, **I **still exists, which means **you** still turn into **me**." But then he added as an afterthought, he added, "But then again, even if you don't, I'm still around to do it for."

And then, Dan shot a blast at his prey. Danny screamed out loud and then, *Bam* His head hit something and he was doubled over holding his now throbbing head.

* * *

Danielle had woken up and looked over at her cousin. He was still asleep and Cujo was sleeping right under his arm. There really wasn't anything cuter than a boy and his dog, even if it was ghosts instead of humans/animals. She walked over to his still form and gave him a kiss before moving to the door separating them from the cockpit.

As she entered, the three teens looked back at her and smiled. The two phantoms had been asleep for something close to an hour and the speeder had only managed to get about halfway to their final destination.

"How did you sleep?" Jazz suddenly asked, as she turned her attention back to driving the speeder.

Sam took the opportunity to jump into the conversation, "Yeah, you guys have been sleeping for like, an hour. I know you guys have almost **exactly** the same DNA, but you guys sleep longer than anyone I know."

"I know. Is it something that all half-human half-ghosts do?" Tucker said, hating to be left out of the fun.

They all started to laugh. It was amazing how long their friend could sleep. He was a teenager, but he slept more than anyone. Probably because he was constantly fighting other ghosts at night.

"For now, let's let Danny sleep. He might not want to at times, and that's against his and my better judgement, but he really could use it right now." Jazz told the others as they continued forward.

The other three teens in the area all nodded their heads and continued to talk about different topics that they could think of.

However, every once in a while, Sam would look back at the door separating them from her best friend. She appeared to be debating with herself if she should check on him, but it always ended with her focusing back on the others. "_Get some rest, Danny. We'll call to you if we need your help,"_ Sam thought as the Specter Speeder zoomed through the green, purple and black atmosphere.

* * *

Vlad had been sitting patiently in the back room with Danny and Danielle, watching them sleep as they continued forward to the _Realm Beyond Time_. True, he had a map and Daniel's instructions on how to enter a hidden spot that lead straight to the time master's abode, but this was easier and less conspicuous.

A movement from the little ghost girl caught his attention and brought him out of his musings. Dani stretched but then covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her. She looked around and swung her legs out of the bed, ready to stand up. She walked over to Danny and gave him a kiss before leaving the room.

Danny didn't even flinch from the action. All he did was readjust himself into a more comfortable position and continued to sleep like nothing happened.

Vlad smiled to himself. Finally, just him and Daniel were in the room. He stood up and walked over to the bed that was across from the one that the sleeping half-ghost teen was in.

Vlad regained visibility, since he doubted that the boy before him was going to wake up anytime soon, let alone the green puppy also asleep on the bed. If he had to, he could always turn invisible again if they did wake up or if Daniel's friends decided to check on him.

The older hybrid just sat there and listened for any intruders, but all he heard was the conversations they were having in the next room. He heard them comment on how much sleep Danny would sleep and how it was more than normal teenagers.

"_Well that's because his little 'Hero' complex keeps him up every night with ghost fighting,"_ Plasmius thought dryly.

Then he heard the eldest Fenton child say, _"For now, let's let Danny sleep. He might not want to at times, and that's against his and my better judgement, but he really could use it right now."_ Although it was muffled through the door, it was still picked up by the billionaire.

He then whispered, "It seems that we have some time for just the two of us, Daniel."

Danny began to move again, and Vlad nearly slapped himself for speaking out loud. But what shocked him even more was the one word that escaped the boy's mouth, "Vlad."

It was quiet, but he definitely heard the boy say his name. Vlad looked back at the teen with wide eyes. Did he wake up Daniel? His answer came as Danny just continued to toss and turn in the bed. Vlad's eyebrows creased with confusion. Was Daniel actually having a nightmare that involved **him**?

All of Danny's movements, however, pushed the ghost puppy to the floor. Cujo yelped in surprise as the warm and soft bed became a hard and cold floor. Cujo scurried out of the room by phasing through the door to where all the teens where, not even noticing the other entity in the room.

Vlad vaguely heard one of them comment on Cujo's sudden appearance, but they didn't come in to see if Danny had woken up too. Danny just continued to thrash about in his sleep.

The older half-ghost knew that his younger counter-part had many bad dreams while he stayed with him, but the reason behind them, he never truly knew. Perhaps Daniel had told him the cause of his frequent nightmares but he didn't believe him.

Vlad was battling with himself as he continued to watch the suffering teen. He wanted to just wake him, but that would blow his cover. He had to let the dream run its original course.

Just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, that he was going to wake the boy whether it blew his cover or not, Danny bolted straight up screaming. Unfortunately, his scream was cut short as his head hit the bed above him, and he was left to cradle his throbbing head.

Vlad cringed at what just happened, but quickly became invisible again. If Daniel was awake and saw him, then the trip would have been half wasted.

Danny held his head and groaned from the pain. Lifting his head slowly, he glared at the metal bunk above him. He should have just slept on the top bed, then he could have avoided this bump in his plans for the day.

"_Danny, are you ok? We heard a bang sound."_ He heard his sister's voice from the other room. Rubbing his sore head he replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just banged my head."

There was a silence before Jazz spoke again, "_OK, don't try and do anything that will cause you to do it again. We're about half way to Clockworks, but when we get closer, you'll need to lead the way. None of us know how to get there."_

"Ok, Jazz. I'm… just going to stay in here for a while," Danny said through the door.

There were no more voices trying to address Danny after that. They figured he was going to fall asleep again and didn't want to bother him.

Meanwhile, Danny sat on the edge his bed holding his head up with one hand and the other hand draped across his legs. He stared down at his feet, his face covered in sweat and a few stray tears. Bringing his other hand to also hold his head, Danny just shook his head from side to side.

Then, to the other half-ghost's surprise, Danny stood up and began to pace back and forth. Something was obviously bothering the younger hybrid and Vlad was sure that if he stayed where he was, he might find out the answer to Daniel's problems.

Danny had tried to tell Vlad once before that his fear came from his alternate future, but Vlad thought that he was in hysteria and couldn't be making any sense.

Danny started to mumble to himself, believing that he was alone. Anyone would when you see nothing but you in the room. Either way, Plasmius' enhanced hearing allowed him to hear everything that the boy was saying.

"Why would I start getting these sorts of nightmares again? I had them after battling…_ Him_, but they stopped later on. Heck I all but pushed it from my mind until all that stuff with the nano-bots and Vlad happened. They just seemed to be getting worse as my time there went on, but what else was supposed to happen? Everything from that time with _Him_ had started there. But that doesn't explain why I had another dream involving _Him_." Danny continued to ramble.

Vlad was getting annoyed again. Who was _Him_? It was clear that Daniel didn't mean him. Maybe there was something behind what the child had said, something about his fear coming from himself.

Vlad had to ponder this. "_Daniel had said that it was his fault, that he's seen his family die by his hands before. But that doesn't make any sense! His family and friends are all well and alive, so how could he know?"_ The billionaire was becoming just as confused as he was when Danny had first stated this information to him. None of it made sense, at least, not to him.

Danny continued to ramble on. "Ok Fenton, you're overthinking things. Focus!" He chided himself, slapping his face to regain control. "Clockwork has _Him_ locked up; I know that for a fact. Maybe… it's because I'm going to be so close to him that I had that dream. It doesn't matter, either way I'm going to make sure with my own eyes that _He_'s still there; where he should be," Danny concluded.

A few seconds passed and then Danny hit his head on the wall of the speeder. He was confused and frustrated. But now he could add 'in pain' to that list. Danny held his head again and muttered, "Smooth one Fenton."

* * *

In the cockpit, Jazz, Sam, Tucker and Dani continued talking, unaware of the battle that their brother, cousin and friend was fighting. When they came to a certain spot, Sam gasped.

Everyone looked at the Goth girl, but she was staring straight ahead and only glanced to her techno-geek friend every other second. Tucker, finally noticing how her gaze switched between him and the window, turned around and noticed the same thing she did; they were in an area where there were almost no floating islands. This was a sure sign that they were on the right path.

But this was also usually the time that Danny would take over and lead the way to the secret entrance. The other two teens in the room followed their gaze to the window but didn't understand what was so interesting.

Then Dani and Cujo looked around worriedly. Since Dani was the only one who could be understood by the three human teens, she spoke up, "Guys, Cujo and I are getting a bad feeling from this place. He keeps calling it the _Forbidden Region_. Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Oh yeah, we're on the right path," both Sam and Tucker stated with serious written all over their faces.

"Well… if that's the case, then we better get Danny to lead us the rest of the way," Jazz commented.

Handing the wheel off to Sam, Jazz got up and moved to the door separating the cockpit from the back room. She knocked at first, but received no answer from her brother on the other side. She looked back at Sam and Tucker, who just shrugged, not really knowing what to tell her. Danny did this sometimes, but only when he was thinking or wasn't even in the room anymore. Jazz then looked to her 'cousin', who was now sitting on the floor with the little green bipolar puppy in her lap. She just looked back at Jazz with her eyebrows creased in worry. Sure, Dani didn't know Danny for very long, but they shared so much in common. So by that fact, she knew that if Danny didn't answer a door, there was a good reason for it.

Jazz turned back around and slowly opened the metal door. She only opened it a crack but instantly cringed as she heard her brother bang his head and say, "Smooth one Fenton."

Jazz opened the door the rest of the way so that she could enter, but then closed it so softly that Danny didn't even hear her come in, but Vlad saw her instantly. Jazz made her way to her brother and lightly put one of her hands on his shoulder.

Danny jumped and whizzed around, surprised by his sudden visitor. Jazz looked him over, but seeing that his eyes were wide, puffy and filled with horror, she became worried herself. His face was covered in sweat and his cheeks had remains of his previous sleep-crying session. Jazz knew that these weren't good signs and recalled how earlier, Danny had banged his head. Fitting all the pieces together, she concluded that he had had a nightmare, and she really hoped that it wasn't a certain evil-future-self like it had been the other times she found her brother like this.

Being the over-baring and protective sister that she was, Jazz stared back at her little brother and asked, "What happened?"

Danny stared back at her and lowered his gaze away from hers. Seeing this, Jazz coxed her brother to move over to the bed and sit down. Then following what she made her half-ghost brother do, she sat next to him and put a hand on his back. Danny leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at the floor.

Jazz sighed, knowing that this was in fact another case with his evil self. "Danny?" she called, trying to look at his face. When Danny lifted his gaze from the ground to his sister, Jazz continued, "It was another dream involving _Him_ again, wasn't it?"

Coming from anyone other than Jazz, Danny probably wouldn't have even answered. But since it was, all he could muster without his emotions leaking out again was a simple nod of his head.

Jazz bit her lower lip before she tried to comfort him. She then said, "Oh, Danny. Don't let _Him_ get to you. You beat him once and you can beat _Him_ again. Like you said to that jerk that day and like what we've been telling you since then, you will **never** turn into _Him_. Not now, not ever."

Danny looked up at his sister and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. Turning suddenly, he hugged his sister, receiving a surprised gasp from Jazz. "Thanks Jazz. You always seem to know what to say to make me feel better," the young hybrid commented.

Jazz returned the hug before replying, "Anytime little brother. Besides, what is family for?" she then ruffled Danny's hair, earning an annoyed "Jazz" from the fourteen-year old.

Danny gave her another smile before he commented with his usual tone, "it's a good thing mom and dad didn't put video cameras into the Specter Speeder, otherwise we'd never hear the end of it with how caring we are of each other."

Jazz laughed before she also commented, "Not to mention all the times we've… borrowed it without their permission."

This time it was Danny's turn to laugh as he stated, "yep, just your average teenagers taking off without notice and taking their parents belongings."

The two siblings just laughed at how not normal their lives were and how it just became a regular thing with them. Even Vlad wanted to laugh at the two's comments. It was very rare to find a relationship as deeply rooted as the one between siblings.

Jazz then poked Danny in the side, easily receiving a squeak from her brother as he jumped away and fell on the floor. Smiling in triumph, Jazz stood up and looked down at her peeved brother.

"What was that for?" Danny asked as he picked himself off the ground.

"_**That**_ was just some sibling angst," she replied. But then she continued with a softer smile, "by the way, we need you to start leading the way to Clockwork's place. You looked really excited this morning to go see everyone, and I know for a fact that **you** were the one who said 'Clockwork' when I asked who everyone wanted to visit first."

Danny blushed as his sister left the room and headed back to the wheel. Vlad just smiled at the scene. Yes, there really isn't anything like the bond between siblings. The embarrassment on Daniel's face proved that, and it was priceless.

The younger half-ghost quickly transformed and phased out of the Specter Speeder leaving Vlad in the bunker by himself. That wouldn't last for too long. Vlad phased through the door into the cockpit where everyone else, except his young rival, was in.

Danny could be seen from the front window and waved to everyone inside the vehicle. Sam pointed to her Fenton Phone and Danny complied by turning his on again.

"So, which way?" Jazz questioned as she and Sam switched places again.

Danny smiled, "Just follow me, but stay close. None of you know how to enter and I've only entered by myself through this entrance."

Jazz and Dani looked to the Goth girl and techno-geek, and with them confirming what their hybrid friend just said, Jazz turned back to her brother. "Danny, if you've only entered by yourself, how do you know that you'll be able to get all of us in with you?" Jazz questioned.

Danny floated there for a second and face-palmed himself. Rubbing the back of his neck, his admitted nervously, "I… really hadn't thought about that. I thought we could all just get in the same way I usually do."

They all looked between each other and then back at Danny, and broke out into a full out laughing fit. Danny just stared at the group and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing dude. We're just witnessing another classic example of clueless Danny Phantom," Tucker replied.

Danny's eyebrows creased in irritation, but then a mischievous smile spread across his face. Phasing the upper half of his body through the window, Danny shot a playful blast of ice energy at Tucker's glasses, earning a surprised yelp. Everyone started to laugh again and Danny stated smugly, "_**That's**_ for calling me clueless." And with that, he phased back out and started to lead the way.

Tucker growled in annoyance as he started to defrost his glasses. The rest just kept their eyes on Danny, holding in their giggles as best they could.

* * *

About half an hour later, they were in a section of the Ghost Zone that Danny knew very well. Vlad recognized it too, but he had only been here briefly with Danny when they went on their little treasure hunt. During their travel through the area, Daniel had been checking his watch constantly, but Vlad didn't understand why. Daniel had done a similar thing with the island that the Order's Crystal had been on, but there… there was a reason. The message Daniel had read said something about going to an island that was ageless, that had no time. Was it a similar thing with the entrance to the mast of time's abode?

Danny stopped and looked around. There were no islands in the area. "Perfect," Danny stated to no one in particular. He then looked down at his watch and the arms inside the device stopped. A smile spread across his face, but remembering what would happen if he stayed in that spot for too, he flew back to the speeder with its waiting passengers.

Danny phased through the wall again and transformed back to his human form with the flash of two white rings.

Everyone eyed him and then said at once, "Well?"

Danny cringed at the audio assault. "Did you guys rehearse that or something, because that's a good way to make someone deaf," he commented, not even trying to withhold his displeasure.

Sam punched him in the shoulder playfully before she said, "common, Danny. We know you're excited, but we also want to see our friends. So, are we in the right place?"

Danny punched her back before replying, "Yeah we're in the right place. If you move the speeder about… three feet forward and just wait, then we can all go see Clockwork!" Danny was shuffling back and forth; he was just brimming with excitement.

Jazz move the speeder ahead and stopped where Danny had said. Everyone looked at the young hybrid and he looked at his watch again. Vlad leaned over Danny's shoulder and looked at the watch as well. Without knowing it, both hybrids smirked at the sight of the frozen hands.

"Ok, everyone. Get ready to see Clockwork," Danny said. He had done this enough times to know that it took about ten seconds before someone was teleported to the Clock Tower were Clockwork resided. Danny continued and counted down, "In three, two, one!" And the whole speeder and everyone inside disappeared from sight and reappeared outside of a very large Clock Tower.

Danny looked around and became puzzled. "Huh, usually I end up inside the tower where Sam, Tucker and I first met Clockwork," Danny commented.

"Danny, I think Clockwork made us appear outside due to the Specter Speeder. I don't think he would have liked having one of dad's machines within his home. Plus, how would we get it out if we **had** appeared inside?" Jazz reasoned.

Danny rubbed his neck again and replied, "Good point." But then becoming excited again, he transformed and zoomed out of the speeder faster than any of them could react.

The foursome looked between each other and then followed the happy half-ghost's example and raced out to see their friend. Vlad stepped out of the speeder himself and looked around, completely flabbergasted. The Tower before him was covered in gears and clock, befitting of the Master of Time. Glancing ahead of himself, he flew over to the group that was chasing Danny through the building. As Vlad followed, he took in the scenery with a critical eye.

All the hallways looked the same and he was amazed at how easily Daniel was flying through it. Did he just say he usually ends up inside the complex? How did he know where he was going?

Then Dani, who was still holding Cujo voiced the same question, "Danny, how do you know where you're going? I thought you said you get teleported into the Tower."

Danny slowed his flight down and floated backwards to face the group and shrugged, "I don't know where I'm going. I just… am. It's like a feeling, almost instinct that I'm travelling through these halls." Then he turned around and continued forward.

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, but not wanting to get lost, they followed their guide through the winding passages up to the main room that they usually found Clockwork in.

Sure enough, as soon as they got to a huge door at the end of a hallway, Danny landed before it and turned to his friends and family, who were all out of breath after trying to follow him. Vlad brought up the rear and waited for his chance to look around the main sanctuary of Clockwork's abode.

Danny took in a deep breath before moving and pushing the door open. As soon as it opened, Danny and his party rushed in thrilled to find their friend.

Dani then spoke up again, "So, who's Clockwork?"

Everyone turned to the ghost-girl, but the three human teens let Danny explain the story. "Clockwork is sort of my mentor. A few months ago, I got into some deep trouble and he… well, he helped me sort everything out," Danny finished.

Seeing Dani's confused and expectant face, clearly wanting a further explanation, Danny sighed and said, "Look, it's something that I'm not exactly ready to talk about with anyone **except** Clockwork, so can we drop this for now?"

Dani nodded knowing that there were things that some people couldn't talk about and so, left that conversation for another time.

As they continued to move to the main part of the room, Vlad took in his surroundings again. There were parts of clocks floating or attached to walls and floors everywhere. The most noticeable décor however were the clocks all about the room. None of them matched what Daniel's watch had read before entering into this realm. Truly, this was a lair made for the time master.

Finally coming to the main section of the room, Sam and Tucker took a seat off to one side to rest their tired legs. They didn't think that they would be climbing so many flights of stairs that day. Dani and Cujo looked around in amazement and she whispered to him, "Don't go wondering off."

Everyone was looking around but it was Danny and Jazz who spotted the spirit they were all looking for. Danny was about to fly over to his mentor/guardian, hoping to surprise him, when Clockwork suddenly spoke to him and the group without even turning around, "I've been expecting you Danny, all of you in fact."

The time spirit turned around, currently in his adult form but continued to change in appearance as time went on. Danny landed back on the ground and somewhat pouted, "I think you're the one person I **can't** sneak up on."

"Yes, well, having the power of time on my side allows me to do things that others see as unfair or… cheating," Clockwork added as he smiled at Danny.

The young half-ghost chuckled as he recalled that his mentor would be pestered by the Observants whenever he 'cheated' and made the timeline better than what they would tell him to do, just like the incident with him and his future.

Vlad on the other hand, stood there (still invisible) with his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it. Daniel really did know the master of time, and by the looks of it, the two had a special bond. "_Well this is something that I'll have to keep in mind for later,_" Vlad thought to himself.

Jazz walked up to Clockwork and smiled at him. She then said, "thank you for everything that you've done for my brother, and for me."

Clockwork returned the smile. He knew from looking at the timeline that Danny had revealed everything that happened with the two of them in Jazz's near-death moment. Everyone else on the other hand had no clue as to what the three were talking about.

Dani then gasped as she finally recognized the spirit. She ran up to him, Cujo still in her arms, and said, "You're that ghost that talked to me when Danny went missing. Now it makes sense how you knew so much about me. You're the master of time!"

Danny gave her a quizzical look before uttering, "First off, he's a spirit, not a ghost. And second; you two have met?"

Dani nodded happily, which only confused Danny further.

"Don't worry about it, little brother. We'll tell you about it later," Jazz said.

Shrugging, Danny brought up what Frostbite had told them, "Clockwork, Frostbite told me, us, that some powerful books or relics were stolen from them and from here. Is that true?"

Clockwork didn't answer, and nothing on his face could tell anybody what he was thinking about. Finally, he moved over to his viewing glass and raised his staff. An image then appeared on the screen and played itself like a movie.

The whole group watched as a black shadow sped across the scene of what they presumed was the _Far Frozen_. It ducked into a cave that Danny, Sam and Tucker knew held the Infi-map. But instead of going for the powerful map, it flew past it and down a secret tunnel.

Vlad cocked an eyebrow; realising that the figure on the screen had just gone down the same path he had hours ago. Danny however, had no idea of this path and continued to watch with trepidation.

The shadow-like figure moved down several passage ways, stopping every once in a while in front of some drawings. As it moved past them, Danny remarked, "Those drawings remind me of something."

As the image on the screen froze, everyone except Clockwork turned to Danny for an explanation. Seeing this, and Clockwork's actions of stopping the 'film', Danny continued, "Those drawings on the inside of the cave. The first one reminds me of Vlad, and then the next two sort of look like me and Danielle. That last one… it reminds me of… _Him_." He finished quietly, not really wanting to elaborate on that part.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all nodded their heads; they knew what he meant by it. Dani, however, only knew what he said about the drawings that looked like Vlad, herself and Danny. She didn't know who this…_ Him_ was, but she was determined to find out, maybe not right now but soon.

Danny nodded to the group and then looked back at his mentor. Clockwork also nodded, then continued with the show.

The shadow-like figure continued on its way until everything around it began to darken. Just when the viewers were losing sight of their target, the mysterious being's hand lit up in a dark purple hue. Danny blinked a few times, clearly fascinated by what the figure just did.

"_Well, at least we now know that whoever this person is, they're either a ghost or another spirit,"_ Danny mused to himself while he crossed his arms.

It wasn't just the fact that the being could create ecto-energy, it was the colour itself! A rich, dark purple. At first glance, it looked almost black. And it could have been black for all they knew. The only problem now was: could they see who the perpetrator was by the glow emanating off their hand to their face?

Their answer came swiftly and to their disappointment, they couldn't see who they were. Whoever they were, they had a cloak covering their body and a long hood over their face. The cloak was black on the outside, but every once in a while, they saw a hint of red and purple from the inside.

They figure kept moving, clearly searching for something, but what it was, they didn't know. Everyone except Clockwork and Vlad.

Vlad had his eye glued to the screen as the figure moved along the hidden corridor. He recalled how he had taken the exact same route, but this time, he was hoping to find out what had been at the end of that path.

Vlad had been so busy looking at the image that he barely caught that Clockwork had turned and stared at his invisible form. When he did notice, he was utterly shocked. So shocked that he almost lost invisibility. Was the time spirit actually able to see him? "_No impossible,"_ he told himself. Only others who were invisible could see him. Perhaps the time spirit simply knew he was there because he had seen it all before. That was definitely a plausible case, but would Clockwork do anything?

Vlad smiled, knowing what the most-likely answer to that was. _"No, of course not. He wouldn't dare do that; it could ruin his precious time-stream!"_ Vlad all but gloated to himself, very happy over his small victory.

Clockwork turned back to his viewing orb just as the figure on it had reached what looked like a dead end. The image flickered and then reappeared at a different angle, revealing that it was indeed a dead end, but there was a pedestal with two glowing objects sitting on it. The two objects were glowing with a bright white hue. Though no one could tell what they were exactly, they could see that each of the objects had a huge green gem at the centre with several smaller green gems surrounding it. the pattern at that angle was undistinguishable, but for some reason, both half-ghost teenagers had a feeling that the gems' patterns had a meaning behind them. Finally, there were four, small, white pearl-like gems at each of the corners to the book. Anybody who would have seen it could have easily said that they were a work of art.

Then suddenly, in one fell swoop, the objects were snatched by the hooded being and vanished.

Danny and Danielle's eyes widened before they both shouted, "HE STOLE THE BOOKS!"

Everyone, except Clockwork, was taken a bit aback by the conjoined comment. Even Cujo cringed and yelped as both Phantoms shouted their thoughts. For a while, there was an awkward silence that seemed to envelope everything, that is until Jazz spoke up, "Guys, how do you know those were the books that Frostbite told us were stolen? In fact, how did you know those were books in the first place? The angle was terrible, there is no way that even I could tell what they were."

Danny and Dani looked at each other, but just shrugged. Danny was the one who voiced his thoughts, "I… I don't know. It sort of felt like I knew what they were before I even saw them." Danny looked to his cousin, who just nodded in agreement.

Everyone just stared at them like they were crazy. Clockwork, on the other hand, just smirked; but no one saw it. He knew why they knew that those were the books, but he wasn't going to tell. He knew their futures, they would find out in time.

Vlad watched as the group continued to talk, and honestly, he was getting bored. Yes, all this was very fascinating, but he had already guessed that that was where at least one of the books had been. He was all but ready to leave the Clock Tower. He gotten what he came for, all that was left was for him to search the rest of the area for the one book that was most-likely in the time spirit's possession. But that was easier said than done. He wasn't planning on being caught after all the work he had put into this. If he was going to search the time master's abode, he was either going to have to wait for Clockwork to be distracted by Daniel and his friends, have Clockwork out of the way for a little while, or travel through the spirit's home while he was with the teenagers.

Honestly, none of those options sound even in the slightest bit appealing to the older hybrid, but his best option was to do it while Clockwork was busy or travelling with the group. He didn't have to wait long, because he suddenly heard Danny speak up again, "Clockwork, I… I recently had a nightmare… about… _Him_. Is something going to happen? Will _he_… will _he _break free?"

Clockwork looked down at the boy, whose eyes were all but pleading with him to tell him if something was wrong. Clockwork sighed but then said, "I cannot tell you, Danny, if something will happen or not. That could ruin the time-stream and, although the Observants put me in charge of you as your guardian and mentor, my first priority is the time-stream."

Danny nodded, but then looked up at his mentor again, his question not needing to be voiced, but he did it anyways. With a slightly scared and shaky voice, Danny asked, "Clockwork, could I… see _Him_? Just to make sure?"

Everyone stared at Danny in disbelief. The one thing running through all their minds was, _"Is he serious?"_

Danny swallowed, not too sure if he should have asked that. Clockwork looked at the slightly trembling hybrid, his facial expression hiding what he was thinking. He gave a quick glance at Vlad, who didn't miss the silent exchange this time.

Even though Vlad wasn't sure if the time master could see him or not, he still kept his hard expression and nodded his head; like a father does when he give his child permission to do something. Clockwork had a faint smile grace his lips before it returned to his usual neutral look. He looked down at the young male hybrid. Danny was looking down at the floor, rubbing his arm.

Danny was so tense and nervous, he wasn't sure if he want to do this anymore. Maybe it had been a mistake to ask. Danny shook his head slightly, no, he had to do this; or his dreams might just get worse, like they did at Vlad's when he kept his fears looked up.

Danny looked up at his mentor, and Clockwork finally nodded his head. As Clockwork started to float of to some place within his home, Danny looked back at his friends' faces. All of them looked worried for their friend, but gave him reassuring smiles of encouragement.

Sam walked up beside Danny and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be with you all the way, just like last time and all the other times we've hit hard spots," she said.

Danny smiled at her then took a deep breath. "It was bound to happen at some point," he stated, "might as well be now."

And with that, the group followed Danny down the corridors of the Clock Tower to find Clockwork… and, towards Danny's greatest fear.

* * *

Vlad watched as the group left the main area of the tower to follow Clockwork to this… _Him_. Who was this _Him_ anyways?

When Daniel had stayed with him several months ago, he said that he kept having nightmares about _Him_. How he was never going to turn into _Him_. For heaven sakes, this was the ghost that had traumatized Daniel and made him fear himself! Even Jasmine wouldn't talk about this ghost. Vlad assumed that Jazz didn't know much about the ghost, but knew enough to know why Daniel was so terrified of him.

Vlad glanced back at the time orb, which Clockwork had left at the spot the image had been at before he left. The older hybrid raised an eyebrow; was the time spirit expecting someone to notice something that wasn't seen before?

Vlad looked back in the direction that the group of teens and spirit had gone, and then he created a duplicate, which he sent down the same path that the others had gone down. He smiled to himself, happy that he could control his power of duplication so well. It made things like this so much easier.

If they were going to see this ghost that Daniel was more afraid of then he was of Vlad Plasmius, then he wanted to know and see with his own eyes who this ghost was. But he also wanted to get a better look at the image still on the screen.

Although he couldn't see who the figure was while they were under that cloak, he was going to at least take photos of the image for future reference. Vlad pulled out one of his spy bugs and started taking photos. After a few minutes, the older half-ghost noticed something in the image on the screen that he hadn't before.

Sure, the figure was at the same place he had been earlier that day. The pedestal proved that. But there was something about the frozen image. Then Vlad's eyes widened a bit with realisation. The figure's head was looking at the drawing on the wall!

Vlad moved closer to the viewing orb, and without a second thought, he touched it. The little 'film' then resumed where it had left off, and the shadow-like being put a hand up to the image on the wall.

The drawing then began to light up, but dimly. Vlad stared at the drawing again, clearly surprised by the glow it was emitting. He now had a pretty good idea of what all the symbols meant; the four rectangles surrounding the ghost portal were supposedly the four books that he had learned about, and the figure standing in the middle of the human made Ghost Portal was to represent any hybrids that existed.

"_Ah… just what I was looking for." _A creepy, malicious, yet alluring voice said. Vlad looked around, very surprised to hear anyone speaking, let alone in a room that he believed he was alone in. Vlad looked back at the screen and went wide eyed. It had been the figure on the screen who had spoken, and from the looks of it, he was talking about the drawing on the icy wall.

The figure continued to move their hand over the image, the glow becoming brighter where ever their hand was. Finally, the shadow-like figure's hand stopped near the bottom where some writing that Vlad had missed was.

Vlad began taking pictures of the writing, not sure if it was still back at the _Far Frozen_ or not. The mysterious being started to laugh in the same malicious tone he had spoken in earlier before his hand lit up with a deep purple hue. The figure lifted a clawed hand and swiped at the writing before laughing some more. _"Now no one will be able to follow my moves,"_ he said proudly. Then, the image faded and Vlad was left in silence ounce again.

The older hybrid didn't know what to make of what he just saw. "Things just got a whole lot more interesting," Vlad commented to himself. Then, he got a telepathic message from his duplicate and teleported to its location with a swing of his cape and a puff of pink smoke.

* * *

Vlad's duplicate, like the original, stayed invisible and travelled with Danny and the others down the hallways, following after Clockwork.

As they travelled down the halls, everyone noticed that the surrounding area was getting dimmer and more depressing. Eventually, blue flames hanging from the walls had to light their way as they continued further. Everyone was taking in the new surroundings, obviously amazed by it. Well, all except Danny, who was nervously looking around, and Vlad's duplicate, who was watching the Ghost Boy with a worried expression.

Danny was shifting his gaze left and right. He was so jumpy by this point; he was surprised that he wasn't bouncing off the walls. This was the first time he had ever travelled down this path, and the fact that he knew who was at the end of it didn't make him feel any better.

Jazz looked at her brother with creased eyebrows. She moved over to him and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Danny turned his head to look at who was next to him, his eyes glazed over with unshed tears. Jazz gave him a sisterly smile and watched him blink away his tears. When he blinked a few times, he returned the smile.

"Just remember, we're here for you all the way," She told her brother. Danny just nodded and they continued forward.

"So, who are you checking on that's here Danny?" Danielle asked. Other than Vlad and Cujo, she was the only one of the group who had no idea who they were going to visit.

Danny and his friends all looked at each other, and then Danny replied, "It's a long story. I-I-I h-haven't been able t-to tell anyone a-about that time. Maybe this… will allow me to, one day." He ended with his down, trying to hold back his unshed tears again.

Dani just nodded, knowing that her answer was somewhere along this hallway. Whoever this person was, she was hoping that she never had to face anything like them.

A few minutes later, they found Clockwork waiting for them at the end of the hallway, before a closed door. The Plasmius duplicate quickly sent a message to the original, and within a matter of seconds, Vlad reappeared alongside his duplicate. He nodded to the clone and with nothing for it to do, it returned to the older hybrid as energy.

Clockwork looked at the group and then at Danny, possibly waiting for some form of response signalling him to continue. Danny swallowed the lump in his throat and then nodded before saying, "go ahead." Although he still wasn't completely sure about what was going to happen next, he took a deep breath and braced for the worst.

Clockwork nodded then pointed his time staff at the door. A bright blue hue encased his staff and then the door opened. The room was a fair size, large enough that everyone that was currently there could enter.

Clockwork entered first, followed by Danny, team Phantom, Dani and Cujo and then finally Vlad. Danny didn't know what Clockwork had done with the thermos from that day, and he didn't know if he kept it or not. But he did now. Sitting on a lone table at the far side of the room was a thermos with several dents in it. The only thing was the dents came out of the small device, not into it.

Danny walked up to the table and then looked at his mentor and guardian. The young hybrid's face said it all; he was scared, angry, but mostly worried. He was worried for the safety of his family and friends if the being within the soup-container-based weapon became free. This time, it wasn't just about his parents, sister, friends and teacher. It was about all of them plus Danielle, and even Vlad! Then there were all his ghost friends that he just visited today. There was so much more on the line if _he _became free. But that also meant that there was so much more reason for him to want to protect.

Danny frowned at the thermos and then asked Clockwork, "_He_ **is** still in there… right?"

His answer came with the sudden metal clanking from the thermos. The metal device moved from side to side, some of the dents being hit again. Jazz, Tucker, and Dani all jumped back out of fear. Sam put a hand on Danny's shoulder to reassure him and Danny just stared at the container with hateful eyes. Vlad watched with more curiosity than he ever thought possible. This was the ghost that had traumatized Daniel?

Danny moved closer to the thermos, when suddenly, Danielle grabbed her cousin's hand. The older of the two ghost-teens looked down at the scared girl's face, but then smiled. He bent down and picked Dani up, who was also still holding Cujo; who was probably just as scared.

Turning around, Danny began to leave the Clock Tower, a few tears falling down his cheeks. As everyone stared at the scared teen hybrids, they began to slowly move away from the thermos and after their friend and family.

Clockwork stayed where he was, looking at the thermos, but then he smiled to himself. Suddenly, he said to himself, "everything is as it should be. Don't you agree, Vlad Plasmius? Or should I call you Vlad Masters?" he turned around, seemingly facing nobody since the rest of the group had left the room.

Vlad blinked a few times, but then regained visibility. He was shocked! He was caught red handed with his hand in the cookie jar, like a child! "You've known I was there the whole time, didn't you?" he stated, rather than questioned.

Instead of replying to his not-real question, the master of time said, "If you are that concerned about Danny's wellbeing, then I would suggest keeping an eye on him. He will need your help soon enough."

Vlad stared at Clockwork with a quizzical look, but then his gaze drifted back to the thermos. _"Why on earth is one of Daniel's ridiculous thermos' here? Is __**He**__ inside that thing?"_ Vlad pondered to himself.

Noticing his gaze, Clockwork quickly stated, "You have no need to know what that is, why it's here, or who's within it. You have been warned, but it's your choice whether you listen or not."

Vlad looked back at the time spirit, his eyebrows creasing. He knew there was secret meaning behind the being's words, but he had no clue as to what that was. Shaking his, he said, "Well, it's been a pleasure my good spirit, but I must return to my own endeavours." And with that said, he disappeared in puff of pink smoke.

Clockwork just looked back at the thermos as it wobbled back and forth. With one last smile, he turned around and headed back down the hallways back to his viewing orb, which he knew Plasmius had already seen. "Yes, all is as it should be," the time spirit said to the empty room.

* * *

Danny and friends had begun their journey home. Before Danny entered the speeder, he could have sworn he felt someone pat him on the back, but when he looked behind him, there was no one there. The young hybrid just shrugged, and entered the vehicle that would take him home.

They went and dropped Dani at her island home along with Cujo. The two had become very good friends since their first encounter that day. As they continued, they met up with Wulf, the final friend of the day, and headed back to the portal after they said their good-byes.

About an hour later, they arrived back in the lab of the Fenton's house. Everyone was exhausted. When they finished unpacking the Specter Speeder, Sam and Tucker said their farewells and headed to their separate homes.

While Jazz went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, Danny went back up to his room. He lay on his bed staring lazily up at the constellations of the glowing stars on his ceiling.

Other than the bad run-ins, finding out about some mysterious thief with no good intentions for the stolen books, and seeing his evil future self, Danny had had a wonderful day. The ghost boy smiled at the thought of finally doing something that he wanted for once. It had been so long, he had almost forgotten how good it felt.

Then, a faint glowing from his dresser caught his attention and wiped the smile off his face. Danny sat up and looked at the glowing water-globe with a thoughtful expression.

"_Does Vlad know about the missing books? What's to say that that person wasn't just him in disguise?"_ Danny thought to himself. Shaking his head, he continued, "_No, it couldn't have been Vlad. Sure he knows how to get to the Far Frozen, but he's not really all that welcomed there. It would be almost impossible for him to move around the area without being frozen by one of Frostbite's guards."_

Danny continued with his thoughts in this fashion until a sudden knocking at his bedroom door broke him from them.

"_Danny? Dinner's ready."_ His sister's voice said from the other side.

Danny blinked a few times, still trying to focus on what was going on. "Oh! Ok, be down in a minute," he finally replied.

He heard his sister's footsteps fading away and then he sighed. He looked back at the one thing that reminded him of his good times with Vlad before whispering, "The only thing that could have made this day better, would be to have more good times with Vlad like we did all those months ago."

Danny sighed away his depressing thoughts and then headed to the kitchen. When he got there, he was happy to see his favourite dish; pasta. Danny chuckled to himself and sat down, ready to dig in. "_Well, I guess this works too,"_ he mused, as he stuck the first bite of his dinner in his mouth, savouring the taste.

* * *

After Vlad teleported out of the Clock Tower, he caught sight of Danny about to enter the speeder. Flying over to him, he patted the boy on his back, leaving one of his spy bugs on his back. Pleased with his work, Vlad stood back and waited for him to enter the speeder. When they took off he followed them, hot on their trail.

As soon as he recognized one of the areas they were in, he left the group to their own route and headed to his castle in Wisconsin. Once home, he took out his spy bug with all the photos and videos on it and downloaded the contents from its memory. Glad that his little 'day trip' with Daniel was over with, Vlad transformed into Masters as he left his lab and headed to his dining room for dinner.

When he got there, he sat down in his usual seat and waited. He didn't wait long, since a ghost floated into the room with a plate of food.

"Thank you, Derek," Vlad said to his butler, who just bowed and floated away.

Vlad began eating his dinner with relish. He hadn't eaten since earlier that morning and his growling stomach confirmed it. if he was ever going to do that again, he was going to make a note to bring some things along.

As he continued with his plate, his mind began to wonder. What did Clockwork mean when he said that Daniel would need his help? Was Daniel actually right in thinking something big was going to happen? And what was with that thermos at the time master's abode? Who was in it? How did it get there? And why was Daniel so wary of it?

These questions and more came to the billionaire's mind he ate. When he was finished, he decided that he couldn't be bothered with it at this time, and headed back to his lab to make sure the cameras at the Fenton's home were on.

When he completed his task he headed for the door to the lab only to freeze and turn around when he heard Danny and Jazz talking from one of the live feeds.

"_Danny? Dinner's ready." His sister's voice said from the other side of the boy's bedroom door._

_Danny stared blankly at the door before saying, "Oh! Ok, be down in a minute."_

_Then Danny sighed and looked back at his dresser where the water-globe of Germany sat. He then whispered, "The only thing that could have made this day better, would be to have more good times with Vlad like we did all those months ago." Then he headed out of the room._

Vlad just stared in utter disbelief. Did Daniel just say that having Vlad around would have made his day better? Of course not in the way that meant they would get into a fight, but still! The older hybrid shook his head and then chuckled. Perhaps he **should** keep an eye on his teenage foe while he looks for these precious artefacts.

Making a mental note, Vlad walked out of the lab and towards his room to get ready for bed. Today really had been a tiring, but wonderful, day.

* * *

**Phantom: Well that's it for chapter four! Wow, it's my longest chapter yet. And sorry again for the long wait. Things just keep coming up.**

**Trainer: no kidding.**

**Phantom: and for those of you keeping track (because I certainly haven't) Vlad's made several mental notes that he'll act upon later. No sneak-peaks!**

**Trainer: also Phantom has been bummed since Thursday since we had our last music lesson with our awesome teacher. He's known us for so long, it's not even funny.**

**Phantom: *holding back tears* yeah, I'm really sad about that. But something the readers should really know! Trainer and I will be absent for about two months a week from today, so I won't be able to update. Sorry, but life is unfair sometimes. Just ask Vlad or Danny.**

**Trainer: *running out of the room* Freedom! Almost there. Come on SUMMER!**

**Phantom: Yep, that just about sums it up. Have a wonderful summer guys. I'll be back with another chapter hopefully when I get back. PEACE!**


	5. Chapter 5: Horrible Clues, Part 1

**Phantom: Hey everybody. Guess whose baaaaaaack. That's right; it's your friends Phantom and Trainer. To those of you that didn't know, we were at camp for just under two months. We got back over the weekend but I didn't get to read anything from the time I had left, so my first priority was to catch up on the fanfictions I was reading. So, sorry for the long wait, but I can guarantee that the wait was well worth it. Not only have I thought of some more ideas for these upcoming chapters, but also for my sequel.**

**Trainer: hey, don't forget that I'm here too. Being at our camp is awesome. There's not a single person that doesn't know at least one of the seasons of pokemon.**

**Phantom: *giving a sideways glance* yeah, too bad not very many remember who Danny Phantom is. Sure, most people who do know are just a little older or younger than us, but other than that…*sniff* you have to explain it to them before they recognize the name!**

**Danny: how can someone not know who I am? I was very successful for several years. I even came back on Netflix. Plus, I saved the world on several occasions.**

**Trainer: Focus Danny! Go do your hero thing, I need to talk to Phantom for a minute. Hey, pull it together; you have a responsibility to your readers. You need to continue writing your story! *starts shaking Phantom back and forth***

**Phantom: ( _ ) *spinning out of dizziness* oaoaoah kayayayayayay. *falls to the floor***

**Trainer: um, Phantom? Are you ok?**

**Phantom: zzzzzzzzzz.**

**Trainer: (-_-) ok… while I try and get Phantom back to normal, please enjoy the next exciting chapter of Ghostly Reunions! *turning to Phantom* ok buddy, time to get up. If you don't get up, then I'll have to–**

***Phantom shoots an ecto-beam at Trainer, singeing the edge of Trainer's hat***

**Trainer: oh now you're asking for it! Charizard, use flamethrower!**

**Phantom: OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOT! *looks around and spots trainer* You. Are. So. DEAD! *turning to the audience* please enjoy this next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

***Since I forgot to do this for the last chapter, this is for both chapter 4 and 5.***

* * *

**Chapter 5: Horrible Clues, Part 1**

* * *

*Bam*

A green energy beam shot out of the endless black, green and purple space that made up the area known as the Ghost Zone. The seemingly random beam shot forward and hit a stray rock formation on one of the many purple islands. Within a few seconds, the rock formation was nothing more than a pile of rubble, a thin line of smoke emitting from the destruction.

*Bam Bam*

Two more beams shot out of the eerie atmosphere; and while one went astray like the first and hit another rock formation, the second hit its target. Unfortunately for the attacker, the ecto-beam was still off by a large amount. Instead of hitting the target's chest, it hit the being's wing. The sound that resonated throughout the area sounded like a sheet of metal being hit by another object.

The being looked back at his wing and saw that it too was emitting smoke, just like any object does after taking damage from a ghost's energy ray. His metallic appendage began to create a sort of sputtering noise, and as the smoke began to increase in size the noise soon died down and eventually stopped all together.

Almost immediately, the ghost frowned at the predicament he had somehow gotten himself into. If the smoke and shut down engine weren't enough of a clue for the poor ghost, then the fact that he was quickly losing altitude should have been.

Suddenly, a small ringtone sounded from the specter's wrist. To anybody else, it would have come as a surprise, but to the ghost, it was just another annoyance that would tell him something that he already knew. A second later, the ghost looked at his beeping wrist just as a message appeared.

The specter's eyebrows creased with annoyance as he read, "right engine damaged. Immediate repair required." His frown deepening, he muttered, "of course". There was only one problem with the message; he wouldn't be able to follow it, not while in his currently compromised position. He wouldn't even be able to make any make-shift repairs!

Turning around, Skulker willed forth one of the many weapons hidden within his armour to his metallic hand and shot an energy ray of his own at his attackers. His blast hit one of his attackers squarely in the chest, vaporizing it. Unfortunately for the hunter, another ghost that looked just like it appeared in its place.

Grunting with even more annoyance, if that was even possible, Skulker fired several more rounds of ecto-beams at the pursuing ghosts. But with each ghost that fell, another just took its place. "What does it take to keep these things down?" the hunter grumbled.

The hunter didn't even know what kind of ghost the specters were. He had never seen anything like them before. Not in any of his many years of hunting had he seen these creatures, and that seemed almost impossible seeing as there was something close to a small army chasing after him.

Currently, there were two types of creatures following him:

The first ones were nothing really. They were very short, around the size of that ghost dog; Cujo. They ran around on all fours but stood on two legs when they wanted to attack. They had no hands or feet, but rather all four appendages ended as nubs. They had a set of antennae in the shape of lightning bolts and they fell back towards their hind legs. They were light blue at the top and became darker the farther down the body it travelled. But their most distinguishing feature was their eyes; blood red, pupil less, and filled with nothing but hate, or at least that's what Skulker thought he saw in their eyes.

These creatures weren't so good at fighting however. They just darted around to confuse the enemy while one of the other creatures attacked; making them nothing more than moving targets for the hunter. However, a special feature to them was that they could dive into the ground like a shadow, making it harder still to shoot them.

It was these creatures' friends that the ghost hunter had to look out for. They were slightly taller, about the size of Danielle when standing at full height. Unlike their lesser counterparts, these ghosts, at least Skulker presumed that they were ghosts, seemed to be able to think. They would weave in and out of the swarm of ghosts and attack with precision. They shared some similarities with the smaller ghosts; blue bodies, blood red eyes, and short lightning bolt shaped antennae.

But there were also many differences. Their heads were like helmets. Their bodies were more humanoid than the smaller, mouse-like beings. Their eyes were shaped like a 'U'. They had hands and feet. Their mid-section, legs, hands, and neck were black. They looked like they were wearing armoured shirts and pants; which were also blue. Finally, they had claws that glowed green when they were about to attack with a powerful swipe or ecto-beam. They may be smaller than the hunter, but Skulker had learned to never judge a book by its cover, thanks to the whelp. And it was a good thing too, because their attacks were more powerful than he had ever expected.

He suspected that if he was fighting only one or two of these ghosts, he could have finished this up about an hour ago instead of running away for who-knows-how-long. Sure, alone they were nothing, but together… it was like a flood waiting to devour everything in its path.

One shot from those creatures had practically destroyed his flying equipment. Not to mention that every time one was destroyed, another took its place like nothing had happened! There was no way that he could fight his way through them. Heck, he didn't even know how many there were. Like any good hunter and warrior, he knew when to flee. He just needed to lose them, but how?

Looking around frantically, Skulker attempted to find a hiding place or at least someone else that he could dump these freaks on who could distract them while he made an attempt to make the necessary repairs to his suit.

Having been chased all over the Ghost Zone, Skulker had no time to pay much attention to his surroundings other than to make sure he didn't collide with anything. Finally taking a moment to actually **see** his surroundings, the hunter nearly slapped himself for not recognizing the area sooner. He was near Pariah Dark's castle! Sure, the evil ghost king was still locked up within its walls, thanks to the whelp and his employer, but that doesn't mean that Pariah was the only resident of the castle.

The castle could provide him with the cover he so desperately needed. Not to mention, Fright Knight could easily fend off or even defeat these pests with his sword; _soul shredder_. Without a second thought, the hunter turned himself invisible; hoping that his followers would lose his trail. He altered his course and turned towards the foreboding castle. He flew, if that's what you want to call it, the remaining distance to the perfectly creepy abode.

"_How he can even continue living there is beyond me,"_ Skulker thought as he made his descend.

Landing at the entrance, Skulker looked back to see if any of the ghosts had followed him, but to his surprise, all of them were gone! There wasn't a single shadow on the ground to indicate the presence of one of the smaller ghosts and he would have seen any that may have been invisible. Not even his scanners could show them. If they were there, they could easily ambush him.

Raising his eyebrow as if confused, the metallic ghost said, "How… odd".

Ever since he unwillingly accepted this job, everything began to get weirder than usual; both in the human world and the Ghost Zone. And that was never a good sign.

With one final look around, Skulker walked into the medieval ghost's abode. Finally sure that the coast was clear, Skulker regained visibility and began his search for his co-worker. Sure, Skulker and Fright Knight could easily now call each other friends, but that was almost always put aside when accomplishing a job; and this was a **very** important job, or at least as far as Skulker could tell it was.

The hunter continued to search for his companion throughout the creepy halls of the castle. Normally, Skulker wouldn't dare intrude on another ghost's home unless it was urgent; hey, he may be a ruthless hunter, but he had morals and standard. Plus, this was, and still is, the home to Pariah Dark; the tyrant ghost king of the entire Ghost Zone! Skulker only came here on rare occasions now to speak with the ghost knight and the only time before **that** was to aid the Ghost Boy in defeating the evil king! Otherwise, you would have never seen the hunter anywhere near this castle. Heck! You wouldn't have seen anybody, ghost, spirit or human near this place.

But he did have to give Fright Knight some credit. He was willing to continue living here even after everything that had happened. Then something occurred to Skulker that he had never thought about: why doesn't Fright Knight live in the medieval section of the Ghost Zone like Dora and her brother?

As quickly as that thought came, an answer presented itself. Skulker scoffed as he muttered, "because, Fright Knight does the bidding of the most powerful being he knows. He must believe that it's the same when dealing with homes within the Ghost Zone. If that' true, then Pariah's castle is definitely a more powerful place than the dragon siblings' castle."

Skulker continued down the hallways, hoping to run into the ghost he was looking for. Getting annoyed by how his search was going and how there was no progress, Skulker began opening doors left and right. When he came to his thirteenth door, he was more than just annoyed; he was furious! You would be too if you were caught up in the same mess; getting a job he didn't want, being chased by some mysterious group of ghosts that just… disappeared, having broken armour, and to top it all off, he couldn't find Fright Knight in his own abode.

Still frustrated, he opened the door only to find that it was a training room of some sort. It had all the necessary sword combat training devices imaginable, or at least the ones for the medieval time period. There were dummies made of stray and wood, practice logs, the works!

Thinking it was just another empty room, Skulker moved to leave and check the next room when he heard someone yell 'Ha' and the following sound of metal hitting wood. Skulker turned back around only to spot Fright Knight in the middle of the room. He was in the midst of attacking a combat dummy that had a certain resemblance to that of the Ghost Boy. Clearly, the ghost knight hated being beaten in battle by the whelp time and time again.

Skulker smirked at the scene before him. If he had a camera, he would capture this moment. Sure, his suit had a built in surveillance system, but it was for hunting new creatures like the ones that had attacked him before. The hunter then made a note to look into those ghosts.

Returning to the actions of the ghost knight, Skulker just marvelled at what their relationship had turned into. If there was one thing that he and many other ghosts had in common, it was they're mutual hate towards the ghost child. Only he and Plasmius actually desired the whelp; of course for different reasons, but it was still a trait that only the two of them shared. Everybody else hated him, wanted him dead, or was his friend. How any ghost was friends with the whelp he honestly didn't know. Either way, everyone else wanted the pest gone.

Just then, Fright Knight drew his _soul shredder_ and made a clean, diagonal cut across the dummy's body from its shoulder down to its waist. The top half of the dummy then fell to the ground in a heap of debris with the picture of Danny Phantom's face ripped to shreds.

When the ghost knight sheathed his sword again, Skulker cleared his throat, effectively getting the other ghost's attention. Skulker moved away from the door way, clapping his hands in praise of the other ghost's accomplishment; even if it wasn't the real thing.

Fright Knight walked over to Skulker, very surprised to see the hunter in his home. What was he doing here? If it had been anyone else, he would have drawn his sword again and attacked!

Fright Knight then began to greet his visitor before he asked, "what brings you here of all places, Skulker? Did my liege send for you to give me a task?"

Skulker resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but didn't stop the immediate frown that fell on his face due to the questions. What was he supposed to tell the medieval ghost? If he told him that he was being chased through the Ghost Zone and attacked by unusual ghosts, not only would it raise the question as to why he was being chased and the reason for his activities, it would ruin his hunter reputation! And he couldn't have that. And really, he didn't need, let alone want anybody else knowing about his mission. If Fright Knight found out that Plasmius knew and was "helping" Skulker find the books, then the ghost knight would want to assist "his liege" find the books like the loyal dog he was.

Skulker knew he had to tell the other ghost something, so he… stretched the truth just a bit.

"I was hunting down some very rare and elusive prey," the hunter started. "My travels brought me to a region in the Ghost Zone that's not all that well known and these odd ghosts began attacking me. Seeing that I was out numbered, a fled but they followed me through the Ghost Zone up until I reached your abode. Unfortunately, they damaged my wing, so I was hoping…"

"You were hoping to repair the damage while inside this castle," Fright Knight finished, finally understanding where his hunter friend/co-worker was going with his statement.

Skulker nodded and smirked mostly to himself at the effectiveness of his half-lie. Hey, it technically was the truth; just not the **whole** truth. But, it was enough information that no one would what he was actually doing; especially considering that he was the Ghost Zone's greatest and most feared hunter (as if there were any other ghost hunters).

Fright Knight, mistaking that the smirk was the hunter's way of thanking him for letting him stay, said, "Well then, Skulker, I will take my leave for now. You may choose a room to work in, but you do not need to inform me of your departure." And with that said, the ghost knight walked around the hunter and through the hall to another part of the castle.

Skulker looked around the training room and then out into the hallway. Deciding that the training room was as good as any of the other rooms, Skulker shut the door and locked it for maximum security.

He took in his surroundings again and then sat on one of the benches littering the walls. Skulker looked around for the umpteenth time before finally relaxing. Normally, for a hunter of Skulker's level, he wouldn't be afraid of anything. However, Skulker wasn't everything he appeared to be.

Very few people knew about Skulker's secret. Those that knew were either very close to him or had found out by accident. Plasmius had known for years, probably since a little after they had met; just like he had known that Plasmius was half-ghost half-human. Ember obviously knew. She was his girlfriend after all. Not telling her would make their relationship more awkward than when they had last fought. Then there was the whelp and his little helpers. Ever since their first run-in with each other and that purple-back gorilla, well… let's just say that was not something he had wanted them to know.

Skulker had no choice right now though. His wing was broken and it was on his back. He needed to first get it off before he could repair it with his suit.

Suddenly, a small hissing sound could be heard from the metallic ghost. Then there was a small click. As the green flames that made up the ghost's hair and goatee extinguished and the green eyes on Skulker's metallic head went out, the hunter's head split open to reveal a small, green, blob-like ghost with red eyes.

The little ghost looked around again and sighed with his squeaky, high-pitched voice. If everyone in the Ghost Zone knew that this small, defenceless ghost was really the most feared and well known ghost hunter in the Ghost Zone, then his reputation would be ruined. And Skulker was not one to mess with when it came to his pride and honour. The only person to shame him in that sense was the ghost child, and he would have his pelt for it. He _was_ going to hunt the whelp and keep him in a cage for the rest of his life, but after that stunt, well… now he gets the privilege of being skinned by Skulker. Instantly, Skulker smiled at the thought of finally having his prize.

Satisfied that the area was secure, and that no one would be able to come inside the room without his permission, Skulker turned his attention back to his exoskeleton to tend to the damaged wing; no thanks to those mysterious ghosts.

Skulker moved to the back of his suit and removed the jets and wings, then placed them on the bench next to him. Finally seeing the full extent of the damage on his wing, Skulker swore under his breath in his squeaky voice.

The damage was worse than he thought it was. The engine for the wing had been shattered on the inside, but otherwise, the exterior was in perfect shape. The rotor however was cracked down the middle. Finally, to add insult to injury, the whole main area of the wing was bent and distorted in every direction from the many hits it took.

The damages could take weeks to fix. That is unless someone like Plasmius helped him, but otherwise, he was a sitting duck! Not to mention that his other suit would still need a few adjustments and calibrations before he would be able to use it.

Looking closer at the broken wing, he found that the damage could be fixed with time. The small blob-like ghost sighed then gave a slight smile. Well, he wouldn't be getting anywhere as fast as he would like, but at least the wing would serve the purpose of keeping him balanced while travelling. Maybe if he could fix some of the damage now, he could get to his own home or to Plasmius' to fix the rest of it.

Still, that didn't change the fact that he was annoyed by the damage and destruction of his beloved armour. If he ever got his hands on one of those ghosts, he was going to be ruthless and mount their pelt on his wall!

"I might even go as far as the whelp's parents and rip it apart molecule by molecule," Skulker muttered in his tiny voice.

He was **definitely** going to make sure that when he got paid for this job, it would be **double** the original price. Going back to the head of his suit, he grabbed some tools and started working on the wing.

* * *

It was about ten O-clock now and Skulker just finished fixing about half of the dents in his wing. He had been working for three hours now, but it was worth it if his suit could work at full capacity again. The engine would definitely need to be replaced. Skulker smirked at his next thought, _"the parts for my armour can be Plasmius' down payment. He owes me for all this anyways."_

Just then, Skulker's PDA began to ring. Curious as to who would be trying to contact him, Skulker stopped working on the half-finished wing and moved over to his suit. Seeing that the message was from his employer, Skulker connected the communication, but went back to the wing he had been fixing. There were only a few more dents in the wing and the hunter was determined to get rid of them.

No more than five seconds later, static could be heard on the other end, followed by Vlad's voice. "_Skulker, are you there? Skulker,"_ the billionaire called.

Getting annoyed, Skulker floated over to the PDA strapped to his metal arm and said, "Skulker here. What do you want Plasmius? I'm busy and I've had a **very** bad day."

There was a brief silence on the other end before Vlad responded, "_well I believe I have found something of interest for your little 'treasure hunt'. Come by my mansion in Wisconsin as soon as you can."_

Skulker was surprised. How had Plasmius found anything involving the books when he couldn't? well that didn't matter. As long as he could find a new lead. Skulker, being excited now, replied, "I'll be over within the hour. I have some news for you as well, if you're interested."

Another silence enveloped the room when Plasmius' voice came over the communicator, _"good to hear, Skulker. By the way, why aren't you inside your armour? What happened?_

Skulker then realized that he was still outside his armour and face-palmed. He had forgotten all about it until now. Plasmius could easily tell when the hunter was in his suit or not while over their communicators. Even though he tried to push down his anger, some of it still leaked out as he said, "Look Plasmius, I'll explain when I get there. And I may need a favour once I get there."

He heard the hybrid sigh on the other side, clearly leaving it for later. Then Vlad said, "_I'll be waiting for you to arrive, ta."_ And with that, the older hybrid disconnected their communication with slight static followed by dead silence.

Skulker looked at the communicator for a little while longer before sighing and running his little green hand down the length of his face. Even though he had been incredibly rude to the man, something in the hybrid's voice had sounded excited, like a kid in the candy store. The hunter looked back at his wing and gave another aggravated sigh. Before he could even think about going anywhere, he had to get the rest of the dents out of wing.

"You really have the worst timing, Plasmius," the ghost hunter mumbled as he went back to work.

* * *

No more than twenty minutes later, Skulker was travelling towards his employer's ghost portal. He was travelling slower than he would have liked, but thanks to his quick repairs to his wing he was travelling faster than he would have if it was still bent and out of shape.

Another twenty minutes later and Skulker was at the portal. He knocked once. Twice. Three times. Skulker was already testing his own patients today, and it was coming quickly to its end. He was considering just blasting through the metal doors, but then his employer would have a fit and start swearing snack names.

Next thing Skulker knew, the portal doors opened, revealing the swirling mass of green that was the ghost portal. Relieved that he didn't have to resort to anything that would get his employer mad at him, the hunter quickly flew through the portal and into one of the labs within the billionaire's Wisconsin home. Taking a quick look around, Skulker saw that it was Vlad's private lab. He knew that Vlad would use this lab for all his more top secret work and that no one would suspect a thing since it was located behind the fireplace in his private study.

Skulker landed and walked through the lab until he found the being he was searching for. Sitting at the computer monitor was Vlad in his human form, his black suit and white, pulled-back hair neat and tidy as always.

As Skulker got closer, the half-ghost hybrid finally turned around. He had a huge, ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face. It was almost like Vlad was some common person, who had won the lottery, and in a sense he had; just that it was more like a spectral lottery that consisted of rare and powerful objects instead of large amounts of cash.

Vlad stood up from his seat and said, "Ah, Skulker. Good to see you." But finally noticing the broken wing he added, "Dear god, Skulker, what happened to you? I'm surprised that you're even able to fly with that equipment."

Skulker instantly frowned. He wasn't able to retract his wings because of the damages, so now Vlad could see what had kept him. Seeing how quiet the hunter had gotten, Vlad knew that he had to say something in order to get his employee to tell him something, and he knew just the thing. Placing a hand on his beard as if in thought, he said, "I suppose this was the favour you were talking about. Well don't worry my good ghost; I think I have just the thing."

Moving away from the computer monitor, Vlad went over to one of the work benches. Skulker followed but when he got there, all he could see was a white cloth covering something underneath. Vlad looked back at the hunter with the same grin on his face as he said, "I was working on something I think you'll like, especially since the wings for your suit are damaged."

When Skulker raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding what the hybrid was saying, Vlad motioned for the hunter to come closer. He Skulker complied, Vlad came closer and removed the jets and wings from the hunter's back, earning an annoyed, "What are you–"

Only to be cut off as Vlad said, "Oh, be quiet Skulker. I'm doing you a favour here."

Vlad placed the wings in a scrap bin, and then moved back to the table. Removing the cloth from the hidden object, Skulker gasped; earning a small chuckle from Vlad.

"Yes, it is breath taking isn't it?" Vlad commented. "I made it really for your other suit, but considering the circumstances and what you need to be doing, I think now is a perfect time to give you this."

Skulker couldn't believe it. It was a brand new set of wings. They were slick and the design was made for speed. It was black and green like his new, unfinished suit. Skulker would have cried if it hadn't meant short circuiting his current suit. He hadn't told Plasmius that his new suit wouldn't need wings since it had a spectral tail, but he didn't need to know that right now. Skulker really needed the wings right now.

"Thank you Plasmius. I… I don't know what to say except thank you," the hunter said as he picked up the new technology.

The older hybrid continued to smile as he replied, "no need to thank me Skulker. But there are some things you should know. First, these wings can travel faster and for a longer period of time than your last pair. Second, there are some special features such as…" and Vlad pushed a button on it that, when attached to the hunter's suit, could be accessed without pushing it. In the next instant, a set of laser guns emerged from a side compartment in each of the jets. "These guns have several settings to them, but I think the ones you'll enjoy are the stun and destroy settings," Vlad continued. "These wings are also more durable and won't break as easily as your last ones."

Coming full circle to his previous question, he asked, "What **did** happen that your suit took so much damage?"

Readjusting the new appendages on his back, Skulker finally looked up at the man before giving another sigh. If there was anything he really didn't want to do right now, it was discussing the creatures from earlier that day. But if he knew Plasmius, and he did, the older hybrid wouldn't be satisfied until he heard the whole story. If he didn't, then the half-ghost might withhold the information that could help him get this infernal job (or as Skulker now felt it was; chore) out of the way.

Finishing with attaching the new wings, Skulker began to tell the other being about his troubles.

"I thought it would be a good idea to travel to some of the lesser known areas of the Ghost Zone," the hunter started. "Since one of the books went missing in one of these areas, I figured I should have a look around. Unfortunately, these ghosts that I had never seen before came out of nowhere and ambushed me."

"Is that how your suit was damaged?" Vlad questioned.

Skulker shook his head, but replied, "no, not entirely. I flew through the Ghost Zone trying to lose them, but they just kept following. There were two different kinds." With that, Skulker took a connection cable from his wrist and plugged it into one of the computers. After he typed something into his PDA, two images appeared. They were of the ghosts that had been chasing him.

Vlad came closer to the screen just as the images came up on it. Skulker was right, not even he had seen these creatures before. But they were a marvel, none the less.

Skulker pointed to the smaller of the two creatures and said, "These pests aren't actually a problem, but they are exceedingly annoying. Somehow, they can 'melt' their bodies down to the ground and move about without being harmed and then regenerate back to their original structure. While in this 'melted' state, they can't be hit and they appear almost like shadows."

Skulker looked back at his friend and saw that he was definitely fascinated by these creatures. Continuing, the hunter growled, "It's these ones," pointing to the taller ghost "that you have to look out for. They're no taller than that clone of the whelp that you created, but their attacks are still incredibly powerful. With just a few swipes and ecto-rays from their glowing green claw and you get the shambles that was the wings to my armour."

Turning to face the hybrid again, he added, "I wouldn't want to run into these creatures again and I advise you to do the same and keep your distance."

Vlad had momentarily frowned at the mention of his daughter. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he and Danielle may never resolve their differences. Even still, he motion for Skulker to continue.

The hunter nodded and continued to say, "Either way, there was a huge swarm of them and they chased me through the Ghost Zone until I reach Fright Knight's abode. I stayed there for several hours up until the point that you had called me."

Vlad froze for a moment at the mention of Fright Knight. If there was one thing he knew about the ghost knight, it was his obsession with serving powerful ghosts. Since he was currently the ghost's master, he would try and help Vlad in any way possible. Fearing for a slip-up that Skulker may have made he urged, "Does Fright Knight know what you and, in relationship, I are trying to do currently?

Skulker shook his head and replied, "I thought you might ask. I told him a vague description of what brought me to his door, and he accepted it without question. I didn't tell him anything about the book relics or of how you were helping."

Vlad nodded and then returned to the keyboard to his computer. He typed some things into it and Skulker instantly knew that he was copying the information from his suit about the two creatures. When that was done, he motion for Skulker to come closer and look at the screen.

Skulker complied and looked through the simple data as fast as he could. Then he asked, "What is this, Plasmius?"

Vlad's grin returned as he said, "I went on a little road trip with Daniel and his friends the other day." This earned a surprised look from the hunter to which the billionaire quickly said, "without them knowing of course. Anyways, on our travels we went to two places I think you'll want to see." Vlad typed in some more commands and several pictures and video streams popped up onto the screen. The last one being of a green blur crossing the screen.

Skulker looked on in confusion to which Vlad said, "Oh, you'll especially want to see this one. Did you know that young Daniel was a ghost dog by the name of Cujo?"

Skulker shook his head again. What did this have to do with the important information that Plasmius wanted to show him? As if in answer to his unsaid question, Vlad pressed play on the video feed. For the next few minutes the two of them stood there watching as the green blur took shape as the little green ghost dog and dragged Danny all over the place. When it finished, Skulker stood there completely stunned before he broke into a fit of laughter.

"Could I get a copy of that," he managed to wheeze out while he whipped away a stray tear.

Vlad couldn't help but chuckle at the hunter's response. "Oh, of course, but you'll also be receiving the other pictures and videos from our travels," the billionaire said.

Showing the hunter the rest of the information, the two discussed certain events like the mysterious shadow-like ghost, the places the books were kept, and the existence of the_ Realm Beyond Time_. However, Vlad kept the part about the thermos secret. That was something that he felt needed to stay between him and Daniel.

Much of the things revealed to Skulker about the timeless realm really shocked him. He knew there was a place for the ancient to live; someplace away from the rest of the Ghost Zone's residents, but he never imagined that the whelp knew where it was located, let alone that he was friends with the master of time. But, none of that mattered right now. All he needed to know was that now it was a race to find the missing books and where to find the mystery ghost. Unfortunately, neither he nor Plasmius knew the whereabouts of the cloaked ghost.

"Skulker, how much of the Ghost Zone have you checked for these relics?" Vlad question, turning towards the large mechanical hunter.

Skulker rubbed his chin, deep in thought, as he tried to recall where he had searched. Looking back at the hybrid, Skulker said, "I estimate that I've searched about a quarter of the Ghost Zone. If you think about the entire area of the ghost realm, there are areas that are pretty empty. That was one of the places I tried to search and you know the outcome to that."

Vlad nodded in agreement. Then he turned and said, "You should finish searching the other three quadrants before looking anywhere in the human world. And that include the areas that appear barren. Things aren't always as they seem Skulker. On both of my travels yesterday and several months ago with Daniel, we went to places that I thought were only myth. Also, when you go to the human world, please inform me. You don't need to search here or at the Fenton's house since both of us don't seem to have them."

Skulker nodded in response. He was planning to search more of the Ghost Zone before moving on to the human world anyways, but it was best not to argue. The part about the emptier areas of the zone though, that had him worried. He didn't want to run into those creatures again. But he supposed that he could always ask Plasmius to join him. Vlad always enjoy a good "treasure hunt" as would put it.

Vlad gave the hunter the information that he would need and then the two said their farewells to each other. Skulker slipped back through the billionaire's ghost portal while Vlad went and sat back down at his computer.

He typed in a command to his computer and a hologram of Maddie Fenton appeared off to the side of a work bench. "What is it you would like, my little sugar lump?" the hologram asked.

"Bring up the video of the mysterious figure from Clockwork's time glass, and freeze the image **exactly** at the point where we see the writing on the wall," Vlad commanded.

"Right away," Maddie reported. She paused and then said, "Did you do something to your hair? It looks great!" And with that the hologram moved over to a different monitor and began typing in new commands. Seconds later, the video from inside Clockwork's abode appeared on the screen and at the point the older hybrid had specified.

Vlad looked at the message on the screen. It was a good thing he had seen this part, otherwise he would have no lead right now. He looked over the message as it read;

_La ŝlosiloj estas samaj sed ankaŭ diferencas,_

_Do el estonteco estinteco,_

_Kaj de donaco al estonteco,_

_Tiuj klavoj havas potencon kiu daŭros._

_Sep ŝlosiloj en tuta ekzisti,_

_Kun sep solaj potencoj,_

_Sep vojoj,_

_Neniu spaco por kovardaj._

_La lumo kondukos,_

_Kaj la ombro sekvos._

_Kun la angulo kaj diablo,_

_Ili ne povas rulu._

_La orakolo komencos la ludo,_

_Sed trovas la ombro inter la lumo._

_La vojaĝanto trovos la lumo,_

_Sed estas konfuzita malbono ene de lukto._

_La fina klavo,_

_Estos malkaŝita,_

_Je la ĝusta momento,_

_Ĝis tiam ĝi estas kaŝita. _

…_(1)_

Unfortunately for Vlad, he had no idea what any of it meant. "I wonder if this was what it was like for Daniel when he was in Germany," Vlad mumbled to himself. This was complete gibberish for him. Was this even a real language?

It was like looking at that infernal scroll that lead him and Daniel to the Order's Crystal. Except this time it was worse! He couldn't read this made-up language. He was only able to read the third stanza, and that was because it appeared like English for him. "The light shall lead, and the shadow will follow. With the angel and devil, they cannot wallow," Vlad read. Well that's not much help. If this was anything like that stupid scroll, then he was the shadow and Daniel was the light, which meant he couldn't do this without his young adversary.

"Oh, fudge buckets," the hybrid said. It was unlikely to gain the boy's trust again so soon after the last horrible encounters they had. But even though he knew that he and Daniel were the light and shadow, who was these angel and devil figures? They had to play some part in all this. And considering that this message was under the image of the four books and the ghost portal, Vlad concluded that it had something to do with half-ghost half-human hybrids. But that only raised more questions.

There were only three ghost hybrids in the world, but there were four books. Not to mention, the phrase he just read talked about four beings: Light, Shadow, Angel and Devil.

All of this made no sense at all. Vlad gripped his head and said, "I think I'm getting a headache from this mess. Too many things don't add up. Maddie, be a dear and turn on the spy-cams in the Fenton household. Then turn off all other systems."

He vaguely heard his hologram respond and fill out his orders as he started towards the exit when she finally called to him, "where are you going, love muffin?"

Vlad looked back at the hologram of the love of his life and said, "I'm going to go get an aspirin for this headache and then I'll possibly go take a nap. This wild goose-chase is wearing me down." And with that he left and shut the doors behind him. If he had stayed for just a minute longer, he would have heard his hologram question what goose he had been chasing.

Vlad walked along the halls, trying to make sense of the message. He hadn't bothered to read through all of it because he couldn't understand it anyways. Whatever the language was, he would need time to decipher it.

Vlad walked into his living room and sat on the couch. If there was one thing he was going to do before he tried to fall asleep, it was check up on his young rival. Clockwork had told him to keep an eye on the boy, but Vlad had been planning to that anyways. Vlad was about to turn on the television when something small and white rubbed against his leg, followed by a soft meow. Vlad smiled slightly and picked up the small kitten and said, "What do you think Maddie? Should we check up on young Daniel?"

Receiving an excited meow from the kitten, Vlad chuckled and finally turned on the television. Instead of the usual programs from the TV stations, an image of the Fenton household appeared. Vlad began to stroke the animal's fur as it began to purr with delight. Vlad had to admit, he couldn't hate Daniel for convincing him to keep the cat. Nor could he blame the cat for finding a way back into his home every time he had tried to shoo it away.

So, Vlad and Maddie the kitten watched the exterior of the home for a few minutes. Vlad was about to change to the next spy-cam, but then he saw Daniel and his two friends run through the front door.

Maddie watched and meowed at the boy on the screen. Vlad smiled at her, realising that she recognized that he had been the one to rescue her from the streets.

The next thing to happen was a kid bigger than the Daniel ran past the building yelling "_Fenton! When I get my hands on you, you are so dead!"_ Vlad chuckled as he saw his young rival phase his head out of the door and watched the other child run by.

Vlad pressed a button and the camera went to the inside of the house, showing the Goth girl standing near the hybrid with her arms crossed, but there was a smile plastered on her face. She then said, "_Danny, I know Dash is a bully and has bullied you for year and totally deserves any punishment that you could dish out, but did you need to go __**that**__ far?"_

Danny phased his head back into the house and smiled back at her. He then replied, "_Oh, come on Sam. You thought it was just as funny as I did. It was only a bonus that Paulina got caught up in any misfire."_ He finished with a shrug.

Sam giggled and said, "_Yeah, I'll never forget the look on her face when that mud fell all over her face. But you do know that Dash is probably going to kill you for that."_

Danny just shrugged again and responded, "_Again, he had it coming. He claimed that he and the infamous ghost boy 'Danny Phantom' were as tight as they could be. Yeah right. Having a pile of dirt and manure fall all over him was the least he deserved for making up that lie. Plus, he has no proof that it was __**actually**__ me. He just blames me for everything so he can justify why he's beating me up."_

The two of them laughed at the memory of the popular kids being covered in muck. But then they both realised that their other friend wasn't even paying attention. Danny walked over to the Afro-American teen and said_, "Tucker, what are you doing?"_

The boy didn't seem to hear him as he started to say, "_Ĉu vi ne kredas ke estas stranga ke Dash nur kuris estinteco vian domon?"(2)_

Danny looked to Sam, but she just shrugged while the techno-geek continued, "_Mi volas diri ... Ne evidentas ke vi provus kaj foriri de li de atingi ie sekura similan al via hejmo?(3)_

Danny called to his friend, but was only responded with what Vlad thought was gibberish. Danny tried again and Tucker said, _"serioze!"(4)_

Danny finally got annoyed and shouted, _"TUCKER!"_

Surprising the boy, Tucker looked at his friends. The Goth girl asked, "_Tucker, what are you doing?"_

Tucker looked at her and responded with, "_Kio?"(5)_

Receiving and annoyed look from both his friends, he smiled sheepishly and then said, "_What?"_

The other two looked at each other and Danny said, "_Were you talking in Esperanto? We couldn't understand you very well."_

"_Yeah, no kidding. The only word I caught was the last one,"_ Sam muttered.

"_Oh, sorry guys. I was practicing for the next time we run into Wulf. Or if we have to read something important. You never know. Those books we're looking for might be in Esperanto,"_ the boy said.

Danny nodded and said, "_Well, since I can only read it right now, thanks to all our work sessions, how about you tell us what you were saying… but in English please."_

"_No problem dude,"_ Tucker said._ "I said: Don't you think it's weird that Dash just ran past your house? I mean... isn't it obvious that you would try and get away from him by getting somewhere safe like your own home? Seriously!"_

Danny laughed and replied, "_Tucker, Dash might be bigger than me, but he definitely can't out smart me. Me hiding at home is the last place he'll look. And by the time he finally figures that out, he won't care anymore."_

All three laughed as they headed out of the entryway and up the stairs to the young hybrid's room. Vlad had seen enough for now, but left the spy-cams on, just in case he missed something of importance later. Something about what Daniels male friend had been speaking seemed familiar, but he just couldn't place it. He decided to leave it for another time and just relax for a little while. He would be out of Amity Park for a while, but would return before Maddie and Jack did. The last thing he needed was to explain to either of them why he had been out of town at the same time they were.

He knew that Daniel was safe for now and that was good enough for Vlad at this point. Settling down for a short nap, Vlad placed his cat down on the ground, much to the animal's displeasure. Vlad's last thoughts were of what he would do to deal with his young adversary, what Skulker would do to find the mystical books, and of what he, himself, would do in order to acquire one himself. Perhaps Daniel knew something that he didn't. He would have to check. And then the tired billionaire fell into a light slumber.

* * *

**Phantom: Alright, to those of you who can't understand Esperanto, here's a list of what was actually said during this chapter. Just note there are some spoilers for this story and the sequel, so only read if you want a hint as to what will happen next. Enjoy!**

**Esperanto Translations:**

_The keys are the same but also different, So from future to past, And from present to future, These keys have a power that will last._

_Seven keys in total exist, With seven unique powers, Seven pathways, No room for cowards._

_The light shall lead, And the shadow will follow. With the angel and devil, They cannot wallow._

_The oracle will start the game, But finds the shadow amidst the light. The traveller will find the light, But is mistaken as evil within a fight._

_The final key, Will be revealed, At the proper moment, Until then it is concealed. _

…

_Don't you think it's weird that Dash just ran past your house?_

_I mean... isn't it obvious that you would try and get away from him by getting somewhere safe like your own home?_

_seriously!_

_What?_

* * *

**Phantom: Hey everyone. Glad you got to the bottom! Wasn't that exciting? Well it's not over yet. This was only Skulker and Vlad's side of this day, or at least part of it. I'm sure you'll want to know what happened to Danny and his friends while this was happening and what happened after Vlad fell asleep. So look forward to part 2!**

**Trainer: wait! I think you should explain what those new ghosts were.**

**Phantom: oh yeah. Ok, so while at camp our friend let us play his game; "Kingdom Hearts: birth by sleep" and these two creatures were something called 'unversed'. We decided to incorporate them into our story because they were just so cute and because we are totally addicted to the KH series, so do be surprised if we you things from those.**

**Trainer: I still hate the fact that this is a two-parter chapter. I DON"T LIKE CLIFFERS!**

**Phantom: will you just deal with it?!**

**Trainer: whatever. Anyways, Phantom spent some time over the summer creating drawings of her characters for the sequel, as well as Butch Hartman's Danny Phantom character's since they'll be older in the sequel. They look pretty good, but we also want to see what you guys can create for this current story.**

**Phantom: Yeah! I drew a title page for this and everything. I just need to colour it. They aren't up anywhere yet, but I'm thinking about getting a Deviantart account for them. I'd love to see what you guys have got. Also–**

**Both: DON'T FORGET TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THE CHAPTER!**

**Trainer: we are always open to hear what you readers have to say.**

**Phantom: so press that button down there, and send us a message!**

**Second disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and anything related is owned by Square Enix.**


	6. Chapter 6: Horrible Clues, Part 2

**Phantom: hey everyone. Don't be mad at me if you were expecting part 2 to come out right after I did part 1. I need time to type and look it over. Even then, I still find mistakes that really annoy me since I would have already posted the chapter.**

**Trainer: stop complaining. That's my thing and you know it.**

**Phantom: … point. But I complain just as much.**

**Trainer: whatever.**

**Phantom: back to the story. This is part 2 to Horrible Clues. In the first part, you guys heard about what Skulker had been doing during the time everyone else had been travelling through the Ghost Zone, and then what he did part of the day that they had returned. You also heard about part of Vlad's day and how he's having so much trouble himself. Heehee. Ok, but this part is focused mainly on Danny and his friends, and some trouble they run into.**

**Vlad: *teleports into the room* alright, I know you two know the whereabouts of those books. So hand them over.**

**Phantom: not this again. Vlad, this is the writer's booth. You can't be in here. And besides, didn't Clockwork tell you to keep an eye on Danny? *smiles mischievously***

**Vlad: yeeeeeeeeeeees, but I don't see how that's releva–ahhh!**

**Trainer: thanks Danny. Mind taking Vlad back with you?**

**Danny: no problem.**

***Vlad and Danny return to the story***

**Phantom: just for the record, that was totally weird.**

**Trainer: yeah…never speak of this to anyone?**

**Phantom: agreed.**

**Trainer: well, on with part 2 of the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Horrible Clues, Part 2**

* * *

_*At the same time that Skulker was running for his after-life…*_

Danny sat at his family's kitchen table, munching away at his morning cereal. For once, he had gotten a fair amount of sleep and was running on time. The fact that he wasn't running out the door with a pop tart trying to beat time and get to school was a rare occasion in itself, and he was going to relish it.

"_No early morning ghosts to disturb me, no crazy new invention to scare me, and no chaos of any kind making me move through the day faster. Whatever is happening today, please don't let it stop!" _Danny thought to himself.

Today was going to be good, he could just feel it. Not only was the school day shortened for a staff meeting, but he was planning on having some quality time with his friends; even if it would probably end up with them patrolling Amity Park and catching stray ghosts from the ghost realm. But that was always fun for all of them… right?

Danny had to push his thoughts for the day out of his head as he saw his sister come down the stairs and into the kitchen. Danny quickly swallowed the spoonful of cereal and said, "Hey, Jazz."

The red-head smiled at her half-ghost brother as she went to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Morning, Danny. What's gotten you out of bed this morning? Was it another," she paused and looked around, making sure their parents weren't around before continuing, "ghost?"

Danny smiled at her and replied, "No, no ghosts. I just woke up on time for once. I guess having a good night's sleep really helped me get back on track, if only for a little while."

Jazz was somewhat shocked. Since when did her brother, the infamous Ghost Boy, ever have a full night's sleep… and wake up on time, let alone before her? "I'm proud of you little brother. Maybe you're finally getting the hang of things." She looked at her brother as he blushed and turned his attention back to his breakfast.

He then paused when he realized that his sister had stopped and searched the area as if their parents were around. "Jazz, you do know mom and dad are still away, right?"

Jazz blinked a few times, confused by the question. She then realized that she had instinctively looked for any signs of their parents. She slapped her forehead at the realisation and said, "sorry, Danny. It's become sort of like an instinct now."

Danny blushed again, knowing that he had just made his sister stoop down to his level of thinking. If only for a minute.

Jazz cocked an eyebrow and sat down with her coffee in hand. "What are you eating this morning? Normally, you're out the door trying to get to school with a pop tart stuffed in your mouth."

Danny blushed even more by her comments, but knowing that the question was a normal one, he knew he should reply. "You're just going to laugh when I tell you," he complained, stuffing another spoon full of the cereal into his mouth.

Jazz just gave him the look that said; _try me._ Danny sighed, knowing exactly what would happen once he named the cereal. But he also knew that his over-protective and psychology-obsessed sister wouldn't let him worm his way out of this; even with his ghost powers. Bracing himself for the worst, Danny took a deep breath before mumbling something under his breath.

Jazz made a confused faced and said, "Danny, speak up. I can't understand you when you mumble." She really did hate it when he did that. At first, she thought he was going crazy or something when he started to mumble to himself whenever they brought up the topic of Vlad Masters. Now she knew it was because Vlad was a total fruitloop and he was releasing pent up emotion that he couldn't really say in front of their parents… ok, in front of their dad. Mom had learned from that time she and Danny had landed in the Rockies how much of a creep Vlad could be. Unfortunately, dad was still oblivious.

Danny's eyebrows furrowed and for a second his eyes glowed their ghostly green. He really, really, **really** didn't want to say it, but he had to. Danny took another deep breath and said clearly, "I'm eating… Fruitloops."

Danny cringed as he heard and then saw his sister laugh, only to try and stop herself at his statement. After a few awkward minutes of Jazz trying to calm herself down and Danny resisting the urge to turn invisible, Jazz finally said through her giggles, "Danny… I know… I know you like the… cereal, but –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's one of the many things I call Vlad. But you have to admit, it is an awesome cereal," Danny interjected. He just continued to eat his breakfast like nothing had happened.

Jazz smiled at him. She did have to admit, the cereal wasn't half bad… but she wasn't about to tell her little brother that he was right. She left the room to go pack her back for the day ahead of her, while Danny finished his breakfast to soon do the same.

Jazz and Danny were out the door and mad their way to school. Jazz had opted to walk with him instead of driving. There was something about walking with her brother that she missed ever since he became distant with her and their parents. She knew it was because of his half-ghost status, but she welcomed the chance to be a good older sibling and sped some time with the awkward boy her brother was.

About a block from their house, they met up with Sam and Tucker and talked the rest of the way to school. Sam raged about her parents and how they had tried to make her wear pink again this morning. Of all the colours her old fashioned parents could want her to wear, it had to be pink. She nearly barfed after saying the single word.

Danny and Jazz tried to calm down the agitated Goth and then explained to her and the techno-geek what they had discussed between themselves. Just things like Danny's powers, his enemies and what they might be up to. The normal things in their lives.

Tucker almost never participated in the conversation until they got to the part about Danny's abilities and enemies. Other than that, he kept to himself; trying to create a program for his PDA that would help with his Esperanto and translating what other ghosts said. "It's like the Ghost Gabber. But this way, even if we don't actually have it on us, we can communicate with the ghosts that don't speak English," the technology loving boy explained.

Sam and Jazz nodded as they understood his reasoning for creating the program, but Danny stared at them utterly confused. Yeah, it made sense for them if he wasn't around, but other than that, what use was it?

"Sorry, Tuck, but I don't understand. Why would you need to use something like the Ghost Gabber unless I wasn't around?" the young ghost teen asked.

The other three teens looked at him like he was the crazy one and chanced glances at each other before staring back at their hybrid friend/brother.

Jazz was the one to ask the question burning in their minds. "Danny," she said, "can… can you actually understand the ghost animals?"

Now it was Danny's turn to look stunned. "Yeah," he stated slowly, "they speak English just like the rest of us." Danny paused for a minute before continuing, "Ok, almost perfect English. Ghosts like those vultures that Vlad has speak Yiddish or something like that."

Sam, Tucker and Jazz just stared at him. It was really creepy to Danny; he eventually had to ask the impending, "what?"

"Danny!" this time it was Sam, "ghost animals don't speak English! For us, all we hear is the growls, squeaks and yells that most animals make anyways!"

Danny's eye went wide, but Jazz spoke up before he could freak out, "Danny?" this caught his attention. "I know this might sound weird, but I think you can understand all these ghost because **you **are part ghost. Vlad said something to me once when you were stuck living with him about how what we thought was just animal noises was actually understandable for him… and even you. Does that make sense?"

Danny had to ponder the information given to him. It was true, everything that any ghost said to him had sounded like his tongue, in some sense at least. Some ghost he couldn't understand too well, but that was probably because he was constantly forgetting that they were ghosts and not animals. Like Cujo! Cujo he could understand at most times, but at other times he felt like he was just talking to an over-active bipolar puppy. Danny just nodded his head to his sister comment since they had just arrived at school.

As they entered the school, Jazz said farewell to her brother and his friends and they went their separate ways. Danny, Sam and Tucker made their way through the crowded halls to their lockers to grab their books.

Danny had just finished packing his bag and had plenty of time to get to his first period class with Mr. Lancer. He was about to close his locker door when suddenly he was lifted off the ground by the back of his shirt and everything went black with the sound of metal locking on metal.

"Take that, Fentina!" a jock with blond hair and his standard red and white jacket laughed. The jock walked away laughing as the rest of popular kids followed his lead.

Danny's eyes glowed green as he realized that it was Dash laughing, but no one could see from the position he was in. even though he knew the answer, he had to ask, "What just happened?" his voice echoing from within his locker.

Sam leaned on the locker next to his and said, "Just another day in the life of Danny Fenton. Dash shoved you into your locker again."

"He's early today too. Guess it has something to do with the fact that today is cut short," Tucker added, skimming through his PDA at the events that usually happened at school.

Danny growled and said, "Since when do you have the time that I get pushed into my locker on your PDA Tucker?"

"Ever since that time when you had to do that research paper on the purple-back gorilla," he announced proudly.

"I thought I told you to destroy that stupid schedule a long time ago," he growled.

"Awe, come on Danny." Sam said. "How else are we supposed to evade Dash and his demon followers if we don't know the times they like to come and bother you? Also, do you want us to open the lock for you, or are you going to wait until you can escape with your abilities?"

Danny thought about the choices for a moment, considering both for any problems. If Sam and Tucker opened the lock, then he could get to class without receiving detention for once. But if he waited for the halls to clear and escaped with his intangibility, it would not only put a downer on his day… it would most likely cost him his freedom that was reserved for him and his friends.

Well this was an obvious choice. "Open the lock," he dead-panned to his two friends.

"One more question," Sam said. "Do you want to give me the combo to your locker or do I have to smash it open?" she smirked at her last statement. It would be the perfect way to release her pent up emotions towards Paulina.

Danny's eyes widened at her second question and quickly told her, "Use the combo. USE THE COMBO! I can't afford to lose another locker!"

Sam frowned, seeing that her suggestion wasn't going to work. "Fine. What is it?" she grumbled.

Danny let out a sigh of relief and told her what she needed to do. "Alright. The first number is 7, followed by 13, and ending with 58."

After a few clicks, Danny sighed again as he heard the wonderful sound of his locker opening. He jumped out and looked at the clock hanging on the hallway wall. Wrong as usual. Danny turned to his male friend and asked, "Hey, Tucker. Do you have the time?"

Tucker looked at his half dead friend and gave an exasperated sigh. "Dude, for your next birthday I am soooooooooooo getting you a watch." The techno-geek said before replying, "It's almost time for first period. I am so happy today will be over fast. I need some proper R and R."

Danny closed his locker and walked with his friends to their first period. All three were laughing, but on the inside, he was scheming revenge against Dash. And he knew just how he was going to do it. This just made him laugh even more, but his friends didn't seem to care.

* * *

Danny was tired, but not physically or mentally like he would be if he had to fight ghosts. He was tired of being in school for the day. Tired of his classes, tired of his teachers, and most importantly; tired of his pears judging him.

"_I'm almost free"_ the ghost teen told himself. This was the worst part of his school days was waiting for the bell to ring. Sure, this bell would just signal an early lunch (which was really just going to be a break between his morning and afternoon classes), but he really just wanted a small taste of his soon-to-be freedom.

As soon as the bell rang, everyone shot up out of their seats and raced for the door. Danny was following his friends and almost had one foot out the door when his teacher called him back with those oh-so-famous words, "a word, Mr. Fenton?"

Danny looked back at his most common teacher before sighing and telling his friends that he would be out as soon as he could. Walking back into the room, Danny looked at his teacher/vice-principle.

Mr. Lancer looked up from his seat at the teen before him. The man stood up and gave Danny his well-known look. Finally, he said, "I'm surprised, Mr. Fenton. You're actually on time for school, paid more attention in all your classes so far and didn't run out for some unknown reason. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Danny looked back and forth, hoping to come up with a good excuse. But the first thing to come out of his mouth didn't help his position. "Um… uh…" he stammered.

Mr. Lancer raised an expectant eyebrow at the nervous teen. Danny finally managed to make his words and figured it was best to give him some form of truth. "to be honest, Mr. Lancer, I don't see anything wrong with my behaviour today. I just got a better sleep than usual and had no need to run to off to my… locker or to the bathroom." Ok, that last part was a lie. He never had to really go to his locker or the bathroom.

Danny looked at his teacher, and by the look on his face, he seemed to buy his half-lie. "Well it's good to know that you were able to straighten some things out in your life. Even if it was very minor. Just try to keep this up, alright Danny?"

Danny smiled at his teacher and ran off to catch up with his friends before they had to get back into class. Yep, he definitely had to say that today just seemed to go his way for once. He continued to run; even as he saw his friends come into view. "I really hop this isn't a dream. And I _really_ hope that I didn't just jinx that," he said mostly to himself.

* * *

For the rest of the free period, Danny, Sam, and Tucker talked about the usual things they talked about. Of course it wasn't what everyone else would normally talk about. The talked about ghosts, events that have happened over the year, and the new devices that Danny's parents had made.

"Before my parents left, they showed me this new form of ghost detector. I think it actually might come in handy," the young hybrid announced.

Tucker and Sam stared at him with astonishment. Since when did he think that a host hunting device was a good thing for them?

"Danny, you know that we all find some of your parents' inventions very useful," Sam started.

"Yeah! Like the Spector Deflector and Fenton Thermos," the techno-geek said proudly.

The Goth girl stared daggers at her friend and he shrank away with a sheepish smile and let her continue. "But how is this new form of the ghost detector going to be useful?"

Danny gave them a small smile before he explained, "When it's complete, it's supposed to act like the Fenton _Boo-merang_, but not completely. While the _Boo-merang_ locks onto the ghost, this device locks onto the location of the _Boo-merang_, so the thrower doesn't have to go chasing it immediately. It also has another function."

The two other teens looked at their ghostly friend with anticipation.

Danny continued, "it's currently able to identify a ghost's power level, abilities and even tell if a **100% human**," he emphasised, "has any unusual abilities." He finished with a smile.

Tucker gave a concerned look as he said, "dude, aren't you afraid that this device will reveal your secret to your parents?"

Danny shook his head. "Like I said, Tuck. It can tell if a **100%** human has any unusual abilities. You know, like a witch or psychic or something."

Sam seemed to catch on and smiled. "Wow! I'm impressed. This device really could be useful to us. But what do your parents want to accomplish with finding out if someone has supernatural abilities?"

"Well, it's mostly to detect if someone if overshadowed or not," Danny replied. "It was a fluke that my parents made something like this anyways. I'm just afraid that they might come across someone who actually has ghost abilities but is entirely human."

"Danny, there's no way your parents device would be able to tell if an ability was ghostly or not. Sometimes it is just a natural ability. People in the past thought that ghostly abilities were magic or godly powers. Vlad's little trip to ancient Greece proves that point," Sam commented.

"I guess you're right," Danny conceded. But it didn't entirely rid him of his doubt.

_*riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin g*_

The bell rang, signalling that the next period was about to start. And Danny needed to set up his revenge for Dash. Splitting into two, the real Danny went back to class while his duplicate went off invisibly to set up his master plan.

Danny chuckled to himself. Well, he didn't like using this ability yet, but getting revenge on Dash required him to be in two places at once. So being able to do exactly that made this all the sweeter.

"_If Vlad saw what I was about to do, I wonder what he would think," _Danny thought to himself. Not really needing much imagination for the idea, Danny thought, _"He'd probably laugh and say something like 'I'm so proud, little badger'. Boy, that would actually be… really creepy."_ And Danny cringed slightly at the idea. Finally, he and his friends re-entered the school for the rest of the school day.

* * *

The Danny duplicate watched as his real self returned to the school. It was only when everyone entered the school that the Danny duplicate went to work. He had about an hour before they all got out because of the staff meeting. He really didn't even need all that much time, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The duplicate flew around the area of the school a few times before he was satisfied that no one would interrupt. Flying over to the gardening shed, the duplicate opened the door and peered inside. Even though it was bright out, the inside of the shed was close to pitch black. Good thing he had ghostly vision.

The duplicate chuckled to itself. _"One of the good things about being part ghost," _the copy thought, "_is that I now have enhanced senses."_

Walking in, the phantom look-alike rummaged through the different tools and supplies. Finding a bucket and a pack of soil, the phantom smiled mischievously. Oh yeah, he could make this work.

Suddenly, the duplicate froze and instantly it frowned and its eyes were full of rage. Oh, he was going to make his revenge even more sweat.

Looking around again, the duplicate grabbed another bag that was similar to the bag of soil, except it smelled horrible. The duplicate smiled as it had everything it needed to fulfill his little 'prank'.

Thinking of another thing, the duplicate vanished in a cloud of green smoke and then reappeared in the same manner. But in his hands was a camera when he returned. Now he was ready to set it all up.

The duplicate took an even amount of soil and fowl smelling stuff and put them into the large bucket. He couldn't find a shovel, but he had the next best thing. He had ghost powers. All it took was a little levitation and that's it!

"Ok, Vlad would definitely say something about me being like him with all this," the copy said to itself. He had used almost every trick the older hybrid had taught him to create this plan. He had used teleportation, duplication, and even levitation. If he had to suddenly use blue energy, he might just freak out. True, it wasn't exactly what Vlad's revenge would be like, but it was still revenge; just… more childish.

The duplicate went to the front doors and peered inside. No one was out of class yet, but they would be. He just had to make sure to hit his target. Just as he thought that he heard the bell ring and he smiled as he prepared himself. "It's show time!" he announced.

* * *

_*Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing*_

All the students made their way towards the school doors. Danny had to resist the urge to just start laughing now. When his friends looked at him, all he could say was, "you'll see what laughing about in a minute."

They were almost to the door when Dash came up and pushed Danny aside. He sneered at Danny and said, "out of the way Fenturd. I've got places to be and don't need to deal with a loser like you right now."

The rest of the A-list followed after the jock, not aware that they were in a very dangerous position. Danny brushed it off, knowing what awaited the blonde boy and his friends. But that didn't stop him from glaring right along Sam.

"Those jerks. I hope they get what's coming to them," the Goth girl fumed.

Danny put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him confused. Why didn't her friend seem very angry? She was sure that he would be even angrier than her. But his eyes weren't even glowing! Danny just smiled and said, "Do you guys want a good seat to the show?"

Not sure of what he meant, both Sam and Tucker followed their friend out the doors and off to the side. There were tons of teens scattered on the school lawn, but there was one area that they could plainly see; the area the popular kids were. No one dared go near them, so the space was clear for them.

Sam and Tucker were about to ask what show Danny had talked about when all of a sudden, a bucket flew through the air and landed on the unsuspecting jock. Dash screamed out of surprise as the bucket landed on his head, covering him in a disgusting mixture. Dash wasn't the only one who got hit though. The other A-listers near the jock had whatever was in the buck spray onto them as well; just not as much as their once oh-so-proud leader.

Paulina and Star shrieked as their outfits were ruined. Kwan didn't care all that much, he hadn't been close enough to get much more than a handful fall on his shoulder and he just brushed it off.

Dash threw the bucket off and looked at his current state. Almost instantly, he smelled something fowl. "Awe, gross! What's that smell?" the jock asked.

Everyone was stunned, to say the least. Sam and Tucker stared in disbelief but then looked at their hybrid friend. He was smiling quite smugly at the scene. Tucker leaned closer to Danny and asked, "When did you put this together?"

Danny answered just as quietly, "After we re-entered the school. It was going to just be soil, but remember when Dash started bragging that he and Danny Phantom were close?" Danny received a nod from his friend, but the techno-geek was still more focused on Dash. "Well, I sent that information to my copy and placed a special surprise inside the bucket."

Sam then heard the jock yelling something about the smell; she walked up to the jock and looked at the substance on the jacket and the jock's head. She then smiled and started laughing, thus, prompting the other surveyors to join in.

Dash glared and asked, "What's so funny?"

Sam returned his glare but then smirked smugly and replied, "What you smell is the combination of planting soil with decomposing digested food."

Dash was now completely lost, "What?" was all he could say.

Sam had to laugh again, but this time she couldn't stop. This time Danny stepped forward with Tucker following close behind him. Danny looked the jock in the eyes before saying, "what Sam was saying was that that bucket was full of dirt and manure."

Everyone was laughing now; well, all except for the kids who were covered in filth. Everyone was so preoccupied that none of them saw or heard the clicks and flashes of a camera from somewhere in the air.

Dash was turning redder by the second, Danny didn't know if it was out of rage or out of embarrassment. He soon found out that it was the first idea and found himself running along with his friends back to his house with a totally pissed Dash chasing them.

The three ran down the street and into the ghost hunting family's house. They closed the door faster than they ever thought possible and listened for any sign of the jock. A second later they heard the peeved teen run by screaming, "Fenton! When I get my hands on you, you are so dead!"

Danny phased his head out the door and watched as Dash ran away from the house. Tucker took the opportunity to pull out his PDA and sit on the steps leading to the second level of the house, while Sam stood next to her half-ghost friend with her arms crossed and a smile gracing her lips.

"Danny, I know Dash is a bully and has bullied you for year and totally deserves any punishment that you could dish out, but did you need to go that far?" the Goth asked.

Danny phased his head back into the house and smiled back at her. He then replied, "Oh, come on Sam. You thought it was just as funny as I did. It was only a bonus that Paulina got caught up in any misfire." He finished with a shrug.

Sam giggled and said, "Yeah, I'll never forget the look on her face when that mud fell all over her face. But you do know that Dash is probably going to kill you for that."

Danny just shrugged again and responded, "Again, he had it coming. He claimed that he and the infamous ghost boy 'Danny Phantom' were as tight as they could be. Yeah right. Having a pile of dirt and manure fall all over him was the least he deserved for making up that lie. Plus, he has no proof that it was actually me. He just blames me for everything so he can justify why he's beating me up."

The two of them laughed at the memory of the popular kids being covered in muck. But then they both realised that their other friend wasn't even paying attention. Danny walked over to the Afro-American teen and said, "Tucker, what are you doing?"

The boy didn't seem to hear him as he started to say, "Ĉu vi ne kredas ke estas stranga ke Dash nur kuris estinteco vian domon?"

Danny looked to Sam, but she just shrugged while the techno-geek continued, "Mi volas diri ... Ne evidentas ke vi provus kaj foriri de li de atingi ie sekura similan al via hejmo?

Danny called to his friend, but was only responded with what Vlad thought was gibberish. Danny tried again and Tucker said, "serioze!"

Danny finally got annoyed and shouted, "TUCKER!"

Surprising the boy, Tucker looked at his friends. The Goth girl asked, "Tucker, what are you doing?"

Tucker looked at her and responded with, "Kio?"

Receiving an annoyed look from both his friends, he smiled sheepishly and then said, "What?"

The other two looked at each other and Danny said, "Were you talking in Esperanto? We couldn't understand you very well."

"Yeah, no kidding. The only word I caught was the last one," Sam muttered.

"Oh, sorry guys. I was practicing for the next time we run into Wulf. Or if we have to read something important. You never know. Those books we're looking for might be in Esperanto," the boy said.

Danny nodded and said, "Well, since I can only read it right now, thanks to all our work sessions, how about you tell us what you were saying… but in English please."

"No problem dude," Tucker said. "I said: Don't you think it's weird that Dash just ran past your house? I mean... isn't it obvious that you would try and get away from him by getting somewhere safe like your own home? Seriously!"

Danny laughed and replied, "Tucker, Dash might be bigger than me, but he definitely can't out smart me. Me hiding at home is the last place he'll look. And by the time he finally figures that out, he won't care anymore."

All three laughed as they headed out of the entryway and up the stairs to the young hybrid's room. Once they arrived, they found Danny's duplicate hovering above the bed with a camera in hand. The real Danny took the camera and then let the duplicate return to him.

Danny turned and faced his friends and said, "Want to see some pictures?"

Both teens smiled; but while Sam nodded her head, Tucker said, "How about we mess with Dash a little more."

The trio went over to the hybrid's computer and an hour later, the pictures of Dash and the other popular kids was on their website; of course under a fake name and untraceable thanks to Tucker.

"Hey, guys. Where should I put the one of Star and Paulina?" the techno-geek asked.

"Put it next to the one of Dash with the three of us laughing," the young ghost hybrid said.

"Ok, boys. I think that's enough for now," the Goth girl said. "You want to go over to the Nasty Burger?"

Both boys stopped and eagerly nodded their heads. It was still before noon, but by the time they got to the restaurant, they would be even hungrier than they already were.

The trio reached the Nasty Burger and were eating their usual me

* * *

als at one of the booths. After finishing with embarrassing the popular kids Tucker finally noticed that Jazz wasn't around. Turning to his hybrid friend he asked, "Dude, where's your sister. Not that I don't mind not hearing her go over strategy and everything."

Danny thought for a minute and replied, "I think she said something about going to the library and looking through our ghost database to see if she could get anything on our mystery book thief."

"Well that's good," Sam said. "We honestly have no leads on who they are."

Danny took another bite of his burger before saying, "Yeah. I know what you –"

"GHOST!" someone from outside yelled. And a second later, Danny's ghost sense went off.

"That's weird. My ghost sense usually goes off before anyone screams," Danny commented.

Everyone in the building suddenly panicked and ran out of the building leaving the trio of ghost hunters alone. The three looked around before Danny said, "well… this makes things a lot easier." A second later he yelled, "Going Ghost!" and his famous white rings emerged from his waist and travelled in opposite directions turning Danny Fenton into Danny Phantom.

The trio ran outside and almost stopped dead in their tracts at the sight before them. Obviously, people were in a panic and running away from the ghosts, but the ghosts weren't following them like they usually did. Instead, they all stopped and… turned towards them!

They didn't know it, but these were the same ghosts that had attacked Skulker earlier that day. But there was a figure among them that Danny, Sam and Tucker assumed was the leader. They were as tall as an adult man, and had a very familiar black cloak with a hood covering its body. The figure seemed to be occupied with the smaller ghosts, but stopped when he saw that a handful had stopped attacking and stared at something behind him.

The figure turned and was then face to face with the trio, their eyes still wide. Danny was the first to finally recognize who the being was, but wanted to make sure. Taking a defensive stance, Danny asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"

The figure looked at him and chuckled, easily receiving an annoyed look from the hybrid. The figure took a step forward and reached his hand towards his hood. Danny, Sam and Tucker on the other hand moved back a step; still not sure what this being could do.

The ghost removed his hood and as a result, his cloak moved back flowing like a cape. While the outside of his cloak was black, the inside was a deep, but vibrant purple. His entire attire looked like something from the medieval section of the Ghost Zone. He looked like a noble or a prince, but without all the grace that one would possess. He had an over-shirt and pants that were black like his cloak, and were trimmed with a red boarder. He wore a shirt that was a dark blue and then a waist cloak of the same colour. The waist cloak was trimmed red at the bottom and went all the way down to his knees. Finally, he wore cloves and boots that were reddish-brown with the same red trim at the tops of them. Around his waist were two crossing belts, the same colour as his gloves and boots.

At first glance, the ghost was quite handsome, but it was his face that Danny really looked at. It just reminded him of his evil future self. His skin was a pale blueish colour. His ears were pointed and his eyes were blood red without pupils. Finally, his hair was long and kept back in a braid that stayed at least a foot off the ground. His goatee and hair were a bright blue that almost rivalled Ember's and both were flaming.

The being took another step before stopping and flashing them a grin that could almost be Vlad's when in ghost form. Suddenly, the being spoke. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you three here, but you can never expect anything to go your way in this town." His voice was smooth, but unmistakably young. Possibly in his late thirties, Danny presumed.

Danny weakly glared at the being and said, "you didn't answer my questions."

The ghost looked at him and then scoffed at the hybrid. "Didn't anyone teach you manners, boy?" the being said as he made a 'tsk tsk', like he was reprimanding a child. Danny glared even more and the ghost gave a fake, exasperated sigh and continued, "If it will make the child happy, I'll oblige. My name is _Koŝmaro Magiisto_, but in your tongue it would be –"

"Nightmare magician!" Tucker finally found his voice only to shrink under the gaze of the ghost before them.

"Yes," the ghost drawled out. "But you can just call me Koŝmaro. And as for what I want, I'm looking for something that I dropped, maybe you've seen them?"

"If you're talking about those books, we wouldn't tell you even if we knew," the Goth girl spat.

Koŝmaro glared at the girl before chuckling at the three's attempt to look menacing. "If you think that you're a threat to me, then you are sadly mistaken," he said before his hand blazed with his dark purple energy.

The trio's eyes widened as Koŝmaro shot an ecto-ray at them. In the last second, Danny put up a shield; but it instantly shattered from the force of the attack. Danny, Sam and Tucker were blown backwards, but otherwise were not harmed. Koŝmaro sneered, "You three are much easier to face than I was expecting. You were far more powerful when I had last seen you."

Danny was back on his feet, green eyes ablaze. "What are you talking about? This was the first time we've even met!" Danny didn't get a chance to continue, since the smaller ghosts around Koŝmaro attacked. The ghost hybrid shot at them, but they just returned after the smoke would clear. So instead, he froze them. With all of them stuck within their icy prisons, Danny returned his focus to Koŝmaro.

Said ghost was smiling at the exhausted teen. Without warning, he shot Danny in the chest with a purple ray, knocking him back against the wall of the Nasty Burger. Sam and Tucker had split ways because the ghost magician had decided to practice his aim while Danny had been busy.

Sam watched as Danny collapsed to the ground, reverting to his human form. Tucker rushed to their friend's side and gave her a thumb up, saying that Danny was ok. She sighed in relief but then glared at the ghost responsible. Unfortunately, before she could even pull out an ecto-gun, she watched as Koŝmaro fired another shot at her friends. Without a second thought, she ran towards them and jumped. Instead of Danny, who was the prime target, getting hit by the ray, Sam took most of the blow. She was thrust back into her two friends and they all glowed a deep purple for a minute.

Koŝmaro stared on in absolute shock. His blast was meant to at least physically hurt the ghost child, but when it hit that girl… it was almost like she absorbed it! _"Strange,"_ he thought to himself. But seeing no need to stick around, he disappeared into a black swirling void.

* * *

Danny and his friends came to just after Koŝmaro left. Danny held his throbbing head while Tucker checked his PDA for any damages. Sam wasn't facing them, but her already purple eyes seemed to glow for a minute before returning to normal.

Danny looked around and was disappointed when he saw that not only had their mystery ghost disappeared, he took all the frozen ghosts with him._ "Well this I just perfect,"_ he thought. Not only had their book thief gotten away, it seemed like he had also lost the books he stole. This made things a whole lot more difficult.

The trio looked at each other before Danny finally said, "Let's head back to my place. Maybe Jazz is back and we can tell he what happened."

Sam and Tucker agreed and they headed back.

* * *

Vlad was sound asleep, but he had always been a light sleeper. So it came to no surprise that he woke up when he heard an alarm from his lab. Vlad got up from his comfy position and headed down to his secret lab.

"_This better be something good,"_ Vlad thought. _"I had been in a fantastic dream."_

As soon as he reached the bottom of the staircase, his eyes went wide. Everything involving his young rival was on red alert. Racing to his computer, Vlad typed in several commands and yelled over the alarms, "Maddie! What's going on?"

Soon enough, a holographic Maddie appeared trying to find the source of the alarms just like the billionaire next to her. Then she dutifully said, "Alarms are due to video taken of subject Daniel Fenton. It appears that something has happened and any settings concerning subject's health and safety were activated."

Vlad looked at the hologram just as the alarms subsided. _"Something's happened to Daniel?"_ Vlad worried. Taking on a more serious look, Vlad commanded, "Maddie! Bring up any recent information concerning Daniel. Anything and everything that happened while I was asleep!"

The Maddie hologram typed something into the computer and Vlad watched as Danny's vitals appeared on the screen first. Everything seemed normal up until a few minutes ago when it all suddenly spiked and then went back to normal. The next thing to appear was the video that Vlad had asked Maddie to record.

Clicking on the video, Vlad watched as the three teens did their activities from that day; from them setting up the website to them going to the Nasty Burger. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, not even when someone had shouted 'ghost'. But as he continued to watch, he gasped as he saw the creatures that Skulker had shown him earlier that day surrounding the boy and his friends. What was even more frightening for the older hybrid was to see the ghost from the ice cave. He watched it all with complete volume.

He watched as Danny disposed of the smaller creatures only to be attacked by this _Koŝmaro Magiisto._ But what really shocked him was how easily this ghost had taken out his young foe. True, Vlad could have done that by simply electrocuting the boy, but this ghost did it with a single ecto-ray!

Vlad almost turned away from the monitor as he watched Koŝmaro fire another blast, but he didn't hear what he thought he would hear. Instead of the faint sound of the blast hitting Danny, he heard a female shriek and then a soft thud. Vlad watched as Sam jumped in the way of the beam and took the majority of the hit before falling onto the two boys behind her. All three then glowed purple before it disappeared.

Koŝmaro vanished and the three teens got up; not one seemed all that hurt. Vlad let out his breath as he realised that he had been holding it. Daniel had been attacked, but seemed fine. Vlad just hoped that the glow that had surrounded them wasn't something dangerous for the boy.

Turning from the screen, Vlad let a small smile grace his features. Well, now he knew who he was dealing with and that he had lost those books. That meant that he now just had to find them before Koŝmaro did.

Vlad paced around his lab before coming to a conclusion; this Koŝmaro person was in the human realm because that's where the books are, or more specifically, they were in Amity Park.

"Why on earth is it always in Amity Park? It's nothing but a ghost ridden town!" Vlad mused to himself. Turning to his Maddie hologram, Vlad said, "Maddie, get me in contact with Skulker. I have something important to tell him."

With his Maddie hologram telling him that she was making contact, Vlad sat back in his seat and waited.

* * *

Skulker was checking another section of the Ghost Zone, and he was becoming very agitated. It would be days before he found those books or the mystery ghost from that video Plasmius had given him.

Suddenly, Skulker's wrist rang; telling him he had someone trying to call him. Pressing a button, he spoke, "This is Skulker. This better be important, Plasmius. This day is just going from bad to worse."

"_Don't worry, Skulker. Actually, this might brighten your mood a bit. Those creature you fought earlier today are somehow connected to the mystery ghost from the video," _Vlad said from the other end.

Skulker grumbled, "I still don't see how this is relevant, Plasmius. Get to the point."

Vlad sneered, "_Fine! The point is Daniel had a little run in with him and I now have his name and what he looks like under that cloak. I also have his last known location, since he has… misplaced those books we're looking for. I'll send you the information."_

Skulker couldn't speak for a moment as everything that Vlad said settled in. he was so excited that he almost yelled in to his communicator, "who and where is he, Plasmius?"

Vlad chuckled on the other end, "_his name is_ _Koŝmaro Magiisto. Apparently, that means Nightmare Magician. I don't know if he's actually running this operation or if he's just a minion, but he's extremely powerful. He took down Daniel in a matter of seconds. He was last seen travelling around Amity Park, meaning –"_

"That the books are no longer in the Ghost Zone!" Skulker concluded. "I'm on my way Plasmius. When I arrive, I'll keep you updated on any troubles." And with that the hunter hung up and raced towards the Fenton portal.

* * *

Vlad stopped the communication and started to do more research concerning their mystery ghost, his companions and the books. He wanted to be prepared.

Turning to the hologram, Vlad quickly commanded, "Maddie, keep a close eye of Daniel would you? We don't want something happening to him."

"As you wish, sugar lump," the hologram replied, her features smiling the whole time.

"Perfect!" Vlad said.

* * *

Danny, Sam and Tucker were all exhausted by the time they got back to Fenton Works. Jazz was at the kitchen table, looking through several different books from the library. She looked up at the worn out teens and asked, "What happened to you guys?"

Danny took a seat and said, "Ghost attack."

Sam and Tucker followed their friend's lead and sat down as well. The three began to tell the red-head about the attack and following result.

Jazz listened to them but then asked, "Did you say that the ghost you fought was called Koŝmaro Magiisto?"

Danny looked at her and said, "Yeah. Why?"

Jazz grabbed one of the books from the table and started flipping through the pages. Sam looked at the cover and read "_Myths and Magic through the Ages_"

Finding the section she had been looking for, Jazz showed them a picture of a man who looked like the ghost they just fought. His skin was more human, his eyes where a stunning gold and he had brown hair. He still had the same reddish-brown boots, gloves, and belts, but the rest of his attire was different. His shirt and waist cloak were a forest green and trimmed with gold. His pants and over-coat where pure white and also trimmed with gold. Finally, his cloak was white on the outside but ghostly green on the inside. He was even smiling in picture.

Danny, Sam and Tucker stared at the picture completely stunned. Was this even the same person that just attacked them?

Jazz turned the book back towards her and said, "This guy's name was Koŝmaro Magiisto in his time period. According to this book, he was a famous magician who was found as an infant by the king of that time and raised as one of the king's own. Since he didn't have a name, they waited to see if one would present itself to them, but when a spirit presented himself, he told them to name the child Koŝmaro and give him the title Magiisto. The king and queen loved the name, but didn't know what it meant, and they believed that Magiisto was another way to say majesty."

"Well that explains his princely appearance," Sam noted dryly.

Jazz nodded, but continued, "As Koŝmaro got older, his adoptive parent found out that he was gifted with special powers. They called him a magician and encouraged him to work with his abilities. One day, Koŝmaro went missing and wasn't seen for over a year. They searched for him but never found any traces of their son. The following year, their son returned to the castle, but he was with someone none of them recognized. The next thing that happened was a tragedy for this kingdom."

Danny looked at her with an expectant look in his eyes. "Well? What happened?" Danny asked.

Jazz swallowed the lump in her throat as she skimmed through the information. Taking a breath, she continued, "They don't know how it happened, but the castle burned with purple flames. The only ones to make it out was Koŝmaro and the man that was with him. But Koŝmaro had been crying the entire time. Then the two hadn't been seen in the kingdom again." Jazz looked at them and asked, "Was this the same guy?"

The trio looked at each other and nodded. Tucker commented, "Yeah, it was the same guy. Just this time, he was on his own and was a ghost!"

"Ok, now that we know who we're dealing with," Danny started, "how are we going to beat him? He beat us without even breaking a sweat."

"Sorry, guys. I don't know what we should do yet. There's so much to consider," Jazz said.

The three teens nodded and decided that they should all go home and rest. There wasn't too much they could do right now anyways. Tucker and Sam made for the door when Sam suddenly said, "you go on without me Tucker. I need to go get a new gun from the lab. That blast I took fried my last one."

Tucker nodded and left for his own home. Sam walked down the steps to the basement lab and went to the counter to pick out a new gun. She chose one that worked just like the last one but then paused. Next to where the gun had been was a strange new device. "This must be the thing Danny was talking about," she mused. Without a second thought, she ran back up the stairs and out of the Fenton's home and towards her own. What she didn't see was that the device had activated by her presence and on the monitor it read: _"Samantha Manson. Supernatural abilities detected."_

* * *

_*Later that night*_

Sam was getting ready for bed, but something didn't feel right. Ever since that afternoon, she felt… what was the word? More powerful? Yeah, that was it. But why? She didn't know.

"Maybe I should call Danny and Tucker," she mused. Before she could even reach for her phone, the phone floated over to her. Sam just stared at it as the object floated before her eyes, encased in a light purple glow. She looked around and sighed with relief. No one was around to ask any questions. She jumped off the bed and looked into her mirror, her cell phone following her. The first thing she noticed was that her eyes were glowing. They were still purple, but now they were glowing. Looking around her room again, she realised that she could see pretty well, even within the darkened room.

Staring back at her phone, she thought about not controlling the phone anymore. As soon as she thought it the glow around the phone faded and the phone began to fall. She caught it and stared in amazement.

"Ok, I have to admit, that was pretty cool, but how…" Sam started only to stop mid-sentence. Her eyes widened as she realised what may have happened. "That beam that Koŝmaro shot me with!" she exclaimed, but almost slapped herself for being so loud.

They knew that he was a magician ghost, but that was a basic ecto-ray. There was no way that the ray was anything but energy for destruction. But then how did she get these powers? Was it a different way to gain ghost powers?

Taking the chances, the Goth looked back at her mirror and stammered, "Um… Going… Ghost?" she closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Opening her eyes, she saw that nothing about her had changed. Well, at least she knew that she didn't have ghost abilities like her friend; but then, what were these powers?

Sam thought about it for a moment before deciding that she would tell her friends about it tomorrow. Maybe that new gadget would come in more use than they thought. All she had to do was get through tomorrow's school day, and then she wouldn't have to worry so much. It was a Friday after all. No biggy… right?

"I wonder if this was how Danny felt after he got his powers," Sam grumbled to herself. As she went to sleep, she didn't realize that her eyes were glowing again. Nor did she know that both Danny and Tucker had unconsciously heard her in their heads as they all fell asleep.

* * *

Clockwork watched his viewing screen as the images flipped between Danny, his friends and sister, Vlad Masters and Skulker; showing the future events involving the group. Then the image rested on Sam in her room, staring at her floating phone.

A small smile appeared on the time master's face as he watched the stunned girl. Finally, he let the screen fade to black and floated away down the many halls of the clock tower.

He fiddled with the time piece on top of his staff and said, "Everything is as it should be." And the master of time disappeared within his clock tower.

* * *

**Phantom: Well, there you have it! In the next chapter, you guys will find out what happened and why Sam suddenly has these new powers.**

**Trainer: about time. We're almost at the part I've been waiting for! I can't wait to see the look on Skulker's face!**

**Phantom: me too.**

**Trainer: but did you have to leave it at another cliffhanger?**

**Phantom: honestly, I didn't try to. It just ended up that way. Hey, you can't have everything you want.**

**Trainer: whatever. But now I can't wait for the next chapter.**

**Phantom: well you'll have to wait. But to everyone else, please feel free to comment on the chapter by pressing that button at the bottom of the screen. Thanks!**

**Trainer: Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7: New Powers, Old Rivals

***Two girls in the corner playing with cards as Vlad, Danny and the rest of the DP cast walk in***

**Phantom: grrrrrrr! *Phantom throws her cards to the floor* what's so entertaining about solitaire? It's boring and I think I fell asleep more than once! This is why I stick to reading others' fanfics!**

**Trainer: you did fall asleep… and you snored. I play solitaire to keep myself busy because there aren't any fanfics out there that I want to read, or the latest chapter hasn't come out yet.**

**Vlad: what are you two doing?**

**The twins: what does it look like?! We're playing cards!**

**Phantom: not that it's any fun anyways.**

**Trainer: *Trainer doesn't pay attention* hey, Pikachu. I'm stuck. Where does this card go?**

**Vlad: well why not write this chapter? It's been a while.**

**Danny: yeah! I haven't been able to punch a ghost in a long time!**

***everyone stares at Danny, but Phantom starts laughing***

**Phantom: then just fight with Vlad or one of the other ghosts that hate your guts!**

**Danny: well, what do you say cheesehead? Want to brawl?**

**Vlad: grrr! You won't last five minutes!**

***a huge battle starts and everyone joins in. Phantom jumps into the fray while Trainer watches out of boredom***

**Trainer: well, since Phantom won't be able to do this… welcome back to the next chapter. Sorry that it took so long, but it is summer vacation and we want to spend it relaxing too. Furthermore, I don't write these. So enjoy the show. In the meantime, I'm going back to my game.**

***Random ghosts speak at the same time***

**I am the Box Ghost! Fear my square powers of – **

– **And I, Technus, will control all the world's –**

– **Nobody hurts Danny while we're around!**

**Trainer: everybody just SHUT UP!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: New Powers, Old Rivals**

* * *

Caw! … Caw, caw! A crow sounded off in a tree nearby. The whole area seemed to be alive, yet at the same time… dead. It was almost like walking through one of the Ghost Zone's forests.

Violet eyes searched for something, **anything** that could tell the owner; what the hell was going on? There seemed to be nothing but the blackish trees and ground, and the occasional caw of a crow, within the creepy forest. The same violet eyes looked up and saw a mixture of what she thought was the Ghost Zone's green atmosphere with the twinkling moon and stars that came from the human realm.

"_Is… is this all a dream? Or did I hit my head getting into bed last night?"_ the girl mused to herself. If it was a dream, she decided that it would be pointless to scream out to anyone listening. But if this wasn't a dream… she didn't want to think about it.

Sam walked over to one of the trees and started to climb it. if there was one thing she could do, it was the ability to truly connect with nature. She continued to climb until she reached a high enough branch and poked her head out of the leaves and took in the view. It was breath taking! It was like the perfect combination of the two worlds she knew!

There was this ginormous forest she was currently in and it seemed like there, off in the distance, was the area of Amity Park. The streets still intact and the lights of the small town shining in the darkness. But what she didn't see, were people of the town, or the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone. Sam climbed down and made her way to the town she grew up in.

As she walked, she realised that a thick fog was settling in around the forest, making things have unusual shadows. Normally, she wouldn't mind, but being in this place had already creep-ed her out and she didn't want to find out what was hiding in the shadows of the foliage.

As she neared the edge of the forest, she quickened her pace. Her logic was: the sooner she got out of this horror flick, the sooner she could find Danny and Tucker. Heck! She would have settled for her parents! And that says a lot.

Sam was confused. Not a soul, living or dead, could be found and somehow she was the only one around. "Ok, definitely a dream. Unless this is someone's sick joke," the Goth teenager mumbled as she wandered through the streets. Where was everybody?

CAW!

Sam jumped a good two feet in the air as the sound pushed her from her thoughts. Frantically, she looked around, trying to spot any signs of danger. When she found that there was still no one around, she huffed in annoyance. She spotted her scare-er; a black crow, at least she thought it was a crow, sat on a nearby bench watching her every move.

Sam rolled her eyes as the bird continued to follow her through the streets. What was with this stupid bird? Why did it keep following her? She saw it back in the forest too, and even then it followed her like a hawk. Actually, more like a vulture. The mere thought made the Goth shiver as she recalled Vlad's three ghost vultures and how they were always watching Danny and his life for the sick cheesehead. _"That guy seriously needs a life,"_ Sam thought, but then added out loud, "Or a cat." She smiled at the thought of Vlad finally taking Danny's advice and getting a cat to keep him company. She nearly burst as she suppressed the need to laugh.

Suddenly, the bird started to chirp, almost like it had read her thoughts and was laughing at the unsaid joke. Sam stared at the crow for a moment, completely shocked. Was the bird laughing? And if so, at what? Her joke? No, that's impossible. Most of it was said in her head anyways. Ignoring the chortling bird, the Goth continued forward toward the park. Maybe there was something going on and she didn't know about it. And, same as before, the crow followed like a well trained dog.

Sam reached the park, but once again, no one was there. She walked by the pond and stared at her reflection in the water. What she had expected was her normal everyday clothes, but instead she saw her night gown. "_What the hell?"_ was all she could think.

Making a double take at her reflection, she confirmed that she wasn't imagining it. She had just wandered around in her pj's. She would have been embarrassed, but there was no one around so it didn't really matter.

A sudden weight on her left shoulder brought her back to the world around her. She turned her head slightly and caught a glimpse of the crow's violet, **glowing **eyes. Wait! Was the bird's eye actually glowing? Just as suddenly, the crow began to rub its head against the Goth girl's and she nearly jumped, but for some reason it was almost comforting to have the bird do that. Sam raised her right hand up and started to pet the black beauty as she said, "well, at least I have some company in this dream, even if you are just a crow. I think I would have gone crazy if I had to go through this alone."

The crow stopped its rubbing and seemed to glare at the teen. She didn't notice which seemed annoy the crow even more. "You know, I'm a raven right?" a smooth voice asked, a hint of rage seeping through.

Sam jumped again, earning a few feathers to fly from the bird as it tried to keep balance on the young girl's shoulder. Sam looked around in a panic. "_Who spoke? Where are they? What did they mean when they said they were a raven? Unless-" _Sam thought as a light bulb lit up in her mind. She quickly looked at the black bird on her shoulder with wide violet eyes. "y-y-you-you spoke!" she stammered.

The bird looked back at her with its own violet eyes and readjusted its position again. It blinked and its eyes were glowing again; the same glow that she saw in her own eyes just before she went to bed. Finally, the bird spoke, well, sort of, "yes, I did speak… well, more like telepathically spoke to you. I don't feel like using my actual voice right now."

Sam stared at the bird in utter shock. She wasn't scared, far from it. After dealing with ghosts for nearly a year, almost nothing could really surprise her anymore. But a bird that could talk, well that took the cake. Sam eventually found her voice and stammered, "are… are you a… a…"

"Ghost?" finished the raven. It shook its head and replied, "I'm not quite a ghost, though I may be mistaken for one at times."

Sam thought about it for a moment and then asked, "If you're not a ghost, then what are you? What do you want?"

The little black bird stared at the Goth with an almost saddening look. It seemed to sigh as it said, "I can't tell you what I am, because I don't exists entirely in the real world… yet. What I want is you."

Sam almost pulled away from the bird, but stopped herself for a reason she didn't know. Her head told her to be wary of the bird, but her heart said to trust it. Her heart won. She looked the bird over again, but this time with a critical eye.

The raven seemed to shrink under her gaze, but stammered, "What I mean to say is that I was searching for you. We have a connection, and you can't deny that."

Sam sighed and stared at the pond again as a light wind blew across it. "You're right. I felt a connection, but what does it mean?"

The bird looked up at her and began to snuggle her cheek as it said, "You'll understand with time. You'll also see me from time to time, but you can always find me in your dreams. That, I promise. But for now –"

The raven flew off her shoulder and over the body of water. Sam almost jumped into the water just to have the raven stay by her side. "Wait!" shouted the Goth girl, "what do you mean? What am I supposed to call you?"

There was a flash of warm light from the other side of the pond; the same place the raven had gone. Sam gasped as the warm light enveloped her form. It wasn't bad, but she was still surprised by it none the less.

Then the voice of the little raven came from the light and said, "I just told you that you'll understand in time." It almost mocked the teenager in the same tone that she reserved for her friends. It then quickly added, "Oh! And it's up to you to name me. But it's time to wake up."

Sam gasped again as the light intensified for a brief moment before dulling back down to reveal… her room.

* * *

Pamela Manson walked into her daughter's room and sighed at the depressing room. Nothing but purple and black touched this room. Why did her daughter have to be such a… a… Goth?! Why couldn't she be more like, well, herself? What was wrong with being a socialite? She didn't know, but her Sammy-kins could probably think of many reasons why.

She looked down at her daughter's sleeping form, or at least what she could make out in this dark room. Sam looked so tranquil while she slept. Pamela wished that she could see this side of her daughter more often. "This place needs some light," stated the overly-peppy mother. She then walked over to the window, and with one quick movement, she pulled the curtains apart revealing the morning sun in all its glory.

Too bad Sam didn't feel the same way. She grabbed her pillow and shoved it over her face to block out the morning rays. Sam growled something about a raven and wanting five more minutes.

Pamela rolled her eyes and said, "It's time to wake up Sammy. If you don't you'll be late for school."

Sam wanted to just lie there, but hearing her mother talk about school reminded her that she needed to talk to Danny and Tucker about what happened last night. Sam couldn't get up fast enough as she raced around her room to get ready for school.

Pamela started to leave, but watched as Sam ran all over the place. "Well, someone is excited for school," commented the mother as she walked out of the room to prepare some breakfast.

Sam was so busy, that she didn't even notice the black misty form of a bird floating on her window sill with its glowing violet eyes. The bird chuckled to itself as it said, "let the fun begin." And then it disappeared.

* * *

Sam had gotten to school without any troubles, and as usual, she met up with Danny and Tucker beforehand. She hadn't told them about last night; not about her strange powers, not about her even weirder dream, nothing. She didn't know how to tell them without sounding absolutely nuts.

Ever since last night, she hadn't been able to call upon her powers, nor did she even know how to. She gave an annoyed sigh, which earned a concerned expression from the ghost hybrid. He didn't know why, but it felt like he knew Sam was… confused about something. But he was also confused. Why did it feel like he could feel what Sam was feeling? Ok, that didn't even make sense to him, and he was the one thinking this.

He looked at his Goth friend and asked, "Sam? Are you ok?"

Sam looked back at him into his big blue eyes. The question was so simple, but the answer wasn't. Instead, Sam responded with, "It's nothing. I'll tell you and Tucker later."

Danny nodded, knowing that it would be impossible to get the answer from her before she was ready. The trio looked around as they entered the school. The nerds were in the corner, hiding from the jocks. The jocks were walking down the halls with the cheerleaders, acting all high and mighty. And so one and so forth for every group in the school. Just a normal day for the school of Casper High.

Sam took a shaky breath and tried to calm her growing nerves. She then repeated what she had told herself last night, "_all I have to do is get through today, and then Danny, Tucker, and Jazz can help me figure out what's going on."_

She took another breath and smiled as she readied herself to face the wrath of high school. And what was a day without Paulina getting in her face and causing a scene?

The snobby girl walked up to the trio and simply stated, "out of the way, losers. I don't need to catch your germs."

Sam growled while Danny and Tucker tried to hold her back so that she wouldn't do anything that she would later regret. Who where they kidding, she would never regret doing something to Paulina. Sam stopped fighting against her friends and they continued down the hall. But not before Sam suddenly turned around and said, "Just so you know Paulina, germs are everywhere. In fact, they're crawling all over your body as we speak. There are even airborne germs that we breathe every day."

Paulina looked back at the Goth girl with a look of fear on her face. The trio just laughed as they continued on their way.

"You know," said Tucker, "Paulina may be a pain, and even down right gullible, but even **that** is nothing compared to how easy it is to scare her."

Danny chuckled and added, "Yeah, don't I know it. When I'm out on patrol, she'll freak out over a spider and scream for _Danny Phantom_ to come and save her."

The three teenagers laughed at the annoying popular as they walked off to their first classes.

* * *

The morning had gone down without a single hitch. Danny had to leave for only a minute to go and capture the Box Ghost, which meant Tucker and Sam had to cover for him. A simple bathroom excuse fixed any suspicions Mr. Lancer may have had.

And Sam hadn't felt her powers at all. "_So far so good"_, Sam thought. She didn't know how to call forth her powers, but she did know what it had felt like last night. Her eyes would glow a more vibrant violet, and then the energy would flow through her whole body. When she used it on her phone, the energy had been directed at the object, so it glowed the same colour as her eyes. She could have said she didn't enjoy the feeling of her new found powers, but that would be a lie. She loved it! It felt, empowering. But since she hadn't used them yet, she figured she could let her guard down for the rest of the school day.

Danny, Sam and Tucker grabbed their lunches and headed for their usual table outside. It was a nice day, why not sit outside?

Danny put his tray down, but before he could sit down, something grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from the table. Danny was thrust against a tree with the force of a bulldozer. Sure, he had had much worse when it came to the ghosts he fought, but it still hurt like hell when someone hurt him in his human form.

Danny shook his head; both in trying to relieve some of the pain coursing through his head and to shake the stars from his eyes. Who was throwing him around like a ragdoll?

"Hey, Fenturd," said Dash as he brought his face close to the half ghost teenager's. "My girl says that your girlfriend said something that really upset her. So I'm going to beat you till I hear an apology."

Danny glared at the jock, just as Sam stood up and did the same. Both of them had rage behind their eyes, and if anyone had been looking closely enough, they would have noticed that Danny's eyes were glowing a ghostly green and Sam's a mystical violet. But no one did.

Both teens yelled at the jock, "He's/she's not my boyfriend/girlfriend!"

"Whatever," Dash replied as he readied his arm to punch the helpless teen. But before he could, something flew by his head, causing him to drop the hybrid and walk back a few steps. "What was that?" the disturbed teen asked his group of friends. All of them shrugged. The most they had seen was a slight blur of black whip past his head.

Dash took another wary step back as Tucker and Sam ran to their friend's side to help him up. No one knew what had just happened, but the trio were happy that it did.

Dash ducked while everyone else shrieked as the black blur charged again. The blur cawed as it landed in a nearby tree and gained a more physical form. Sam had to withhold a gasp as she recognized the form as the bird from her dream. Danny and Tucker both gasped, not needing to hold their tongue.

As the tree ducked under a nearby table, they watched as the bird continued to fly over the A-listers and attack Dash. It didn't do any real harm, but it scared them.

Tucker leaned closer to his friends and whispered, "Guys, I know this may sound weird, but I feel like I've seen that bird from somewhere."

Danny nodded as he said, "I know. I think it was when I was asleep. Like, I saw it in a dream."

Sam shrank a little further under the table, but smiled as she watched the raven pull on Paulina's hair. She so deserved it.

The trio heard several students run back inside yelling 'Ghost!' as they went. The bird kept diving at the popular kids, but then a muffled yell erupted from behind the school doors. Then a very flustered Mr. Lancer stormed through the doors. He looked at the scene of the students with the bird and said, "_Great Gatsby_ people! What is going on here?"

The raven swooped past the vice-principle and continued its slight rampage. Mr. Lancer gasped as he had to duck to avoid the bird. He then announced, "Everyone! Today will be cut short on account of… GHOST ATTACK!"

If they weren't running for the nearest exit, the students might have actually cheered for the early dismissal. Danny was about to 'go ghost' and capture the bird when it suddenly flew towards them and disappeared.

Danny stood there, mid-battle pose, staring at the empty space before them. He then asked, "Um… what just happened?" he then turned to Tucker and Sam, but froze at what he saw.

Tucker looked at the hybrid's shocked face and asked, "What's wrong Danny? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Danny glared at the techno-geek for the stupid and no-funny-at-all joke. Tucker laughed nervously, but watched as his friend's gaze returned to the Goth girl. Tucker followed his gaze and gasped as he saw what he was so shocked about. He pointed at Sam and said, "Sam! Y-y-your e-e-eyes! They're-they're… GLOWING!"

Sam's eyes widened for a moment before she shut them tight, trying to hide what they had already seen. Danny looked at Tucker, who seemed to understand the unasked question since he nodded his head. Danny took a step towards his Goth friend and asked, "Sam? What's going on?"

Sam looked up at her friends and gave a sorrowful sigh. "It's a long story. One that I don't fully understand."

Tucker spoke up this time, "we have time."

Sam sighed again. She didn't know where to start. Then, just like last time, the black raven appeared and landed on Sam's left shoulder. The three teens were surprised to say the least, but what happened next took the cake.

The raven spoke. "How did you enjoy the show? If you want to know where to start, I could help."

The three teens exchanged a look, and Danny said, "To my house."

* * *

The three had arrived at Fenton Works and found Jazz already home. Jazz was about to say hi to them and ask what was with the bird, but her brother beat her to the punch. "Lab. Now. Don't ask why." And then they disappeared down the stairs to the lab.

Danny pulled out some chairs for the group and sat down. The others followed his lead and when they had all sat down, Danny asked, "Sam. Who is that bird? What is your connection with it? And most importantly, why are your eyes glowing?!"

Sam glared at the ghost hybrid, but it soon faded. She didn't know how to answer these questions. They were the same questions that she had asked herself.

The raven looked at the girl, its form still not completely solid, but visible enough to look like a bird still. The bird cawed, getting everyone's attention. It then spoke again, just like the last time it had in front of the teens, "Sam won't know the answer to any of these questions. She is new to this after all."

The teens looked at the bird before Jazz spoke up. She would have screamed at the telepathic bird, but she had seen enough weird things to hold it back. "Um… ok. So why don't you tell us? It's kind of weird not calling you by a name, so let's start there."

The bird looked at the red-head with its violet eyes before it said, "I don't have a name, at least… not yet. I told Sam that that was her choice last night."

Everyone looked at the Goth girl, whose eyes were still glowing. Sam waved her hand in front of her as she said, "No. No, no, no, no, no, no. I barely know what's going on, myself. I'm not naming this raven right now."

The group sighed, but relented. Danny then said, "Ok, but what about the questions we asked?" he was already on a short fuse.

The raven cocked its head and said nonchalantly, "who I am doesn't matter because I have no name, but I am a raven. My connection to Sam is complicated, but you'll all figure it out sooner or later. Probably later. For right now, I can only stay in the real world because Sam is keeping me here, but I'm not complaining. And before you ask; no, I am not a ghost. And Sam's eyes are glowing because she has powers." The raven then started to rub its head on Sam's and Sam pet the black creature lovingly.

Danny, Tucker and Jazz, however, stared wide-eyed at what the bird had just said. Sam had powers?! Since when?!

Tucker was the one to voice their question, "When did you get powers?!" he emphasised by putting his hands into the air.

Sam looked at him and stated simply, "I only discovered them when I was going to bed last night. I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes were glowing. I thought about calling you guys, but then my phone floated over to me in a violet hue. But then everything stopped glowing, so I went to bed. And don't worry; it's not ghost powers as far as I know. I already tried to go ghost."

Danny didn't know what to think of the situation. _"How did Sam get powers? And what do these powers include?"_ Danny thought.

"I don't know how I got my powers Danny, but we could always find out what sort of powers I have," Sam said, still petting the bird.

Danny and the others stared at Sam, slightly confused or worried. Sam looked up and cocked and eyebrow. She demanded more than asked, "What?"

"Sam," Danny started, "I didn't say anything… at least not out loud."

Everyone was confused, especially Sam. _"If he didn't say anything out loud, then how did I hear him?"_

Danny and Tucker had been watching Sam for any reaction, but when they heard her voice and her lips weren't moving, they had an idea as to what was going on. Tucker suddenly yelled, "Telepathy!" earning a startled response from Jazz.

"What are you talking about, Tucker," Jazz said as she composed herself.

"I think we just found another of your abilities Sam," Danny said. "You can communicate with other people through telepathy."

Jazz sat there, unconvinced. She hadn't heard a thing. Why not? Then the room went silent as the raven started to laugh with its twittering voice. "Oh, so close, yet so far from the truth," it said.

Sam looked at bird and asked, "What do mean?"

The raven's laughing subsided to a mere chuckle as it stated, "True, you have telepathic abilities. But only with those two over there." And the raven pointed a wing at Danny and Tucker.

Sam gave a questioning look and said, "Why?"

The black bird shifted its position and said, "Think back to yesterday. What was different about yesterday that could have done something to today?"

The trio couldn't answer fast enough as they all said, "Koŝmaro Magiisto!"

Jazz looked at them, expecting an explanation. And she got one. Danny said, "Koŝmaro Magiisto. He was the thing that was different yesterday that affected today. He wasn't like other ghosts. He had the chance to destroy me, but instead, he just left."

Then Sam jumped in, "Yeah. And when you and Tucker were out for the count, he almost did it. He shot one of his ecto-blasts at you while in the rubble. I jumped in the way of it, but I was propelled into you guys."

The raven flew from the Goth's shoulder to the hybrid's, startling both teens. Settling down, the raven said, "Now you're catching on. That blast gave Sam her powers, or at least enhanced the ones she already possessed. In reality, Sam had the makings of a great magician before that ghost ray hit her. The beam just brought them forth."

"I guess that makes sense," Jazz mused. "I mean, Koŝmaro Magiisto _was_ a magician himself, so his powers must have awakened Sam's."

Sam nodded, but then thought of something, which she voiced. "Does this mean I have no limits to my powers? Or is there only so much I can do? Either way, that still doesn't explain why Danny, Tucker and I can talk telepathically."

The raven looked at the group and said, "I'm just as new to this as you. I can only guess that your powers grow as you grow. Sort of like Danny with his ghost powers. Both can be limitless, but that doesn't mean that there won't be obstacles to stop you. As for the thing between you and your friends, that's a little more complicated."

Jazz rolled her eyes. She knew that it either didn't know itself or it was trying to avoid it. She then pushed, "we've got plenty of time."

The raven looked at the oldest teen and said, "Alright. When Sam was hit by that beam, her powers were awoken, but at the same time, the force of the shot sent her into her friends. This created a connection, a bond, between the three of you. Go on, try it. Think something, and allow the others to hear it. You can keep your thought protected, but you can also let others hear it."

The three looked at each other and all nodded in agreement. Sam was the first to try, "_testing? 1, 2, 3?"_

"_I can hear you, loud and clear,"_ Tucker thought.

"_Same here,"_ Danny responded.

The three smiled as they now had an advantage over their enemies. They could find out about their strategies if they didn't talk. It was a bonus!

Then Jazz jumped in and asked, "Well? Did it work?"

Danny's smile only widened at the question as he responded, "yeah. This is pretty cool. It's like having the Fenton Phones except it's just in our heads."

"Just be careful!" the raven said. "You have a connection now, so some things may happen."

"Like what?" asked the Goth, sceptically.

"Well, if something traumatic happens to one of you, like an internal shock, the others will most likely feel it too. Don't worry; it's not like if one of you is hurt that the others will feel the same pain. It's more like you'll feel a jolt like static electricity," said the bird.

Well that wasn't very comforting, but a good warning system for the trio. Suddenly, the raven's form became misty and it looked towards Sam. Her eyes were going back to normal, which meant that it didn't have too much time. Everyone else seemed to notice the two things as well, since they couldn't stop staring.

"What happening to the raven?" Sam asked.

"Like I said earlier, Sam's powers are the thing keeping me in this realm. When she gets stronger I'll be around all the time, but that will probably take at least a year. Until then, I can only stick around for short periods," Responded the bird.

"Wait! Before you go; how did I activate my powers before?" Sam asked with an almost pleading look.

The raven looked at the Goth and turned what remained of its head away. The raven then mumbled, "Damn it. I'm only a new borne familiar and I already have a lot on my plate." Then continuing in its normal volume, the raven said, "Like your friend's ghost powers, each of your powers will be found through strong emotions. After you discover an ability, you'll know how to do it for as long as you live. Just ask Danny; he knows what I'm talking about. Until next time everyone. And Sam; I'll see you in your dreams." And the raven disappeared.

There was a silence in the room as the misty form of the raven vanished. There was just so much to take in. finally, Tucker said, "Well, that was interesting. I wonder what kind of powers you have right now." Tucker thought for a moment before he exclaimed, "Hey! How come I'm the only one with no cool abilities?"

Danny, Sam and Jazz laughed at the techno-geeks last remark before Jazz said, "Well, we could use my parents' new invention." She got up from her seat and walked over to one of the work benches. Tucker didn't see what it was, but Sam and Danny knew.

Jazz came back with a device that looked like a PDA but it had a satellite dish on the edge of it. It was a slick green colour with the trademark "f" making it a Fenton weapon. She brought it near Sam as it started to scan the area for its target.

A beeping signalled that it had done its job and information filled the screen. Jazz looked it over as the three other teenagers looked over her shoulders to see for themselves. Their eyes scanned the device and what was on it. It read:

_Samantha Manson…_

_Supernatural abilities detected._

_Categorized…_

_50% magical, 50% ghostly._

_Strength level…_

_7 on the ecto-level._

_Abilities…_

_Telepathy, telekinesis, familiar summoning._

_Undiscovered abilities detected. No further information found._

"Wow," was all Danny could say. He looked over the information to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "Hey, you're the same power level as me!"

Sam blushed and tried to hide it. Tucker and Jazz shared a look. They knew that Danny and Sam liked each other, but it wasn't their place to rush it. They had to find the truth for themselves.

Tucker looked at the device again and said, "hey, what does it mean by 'familiar summoning'?"

Jazz's eyes grew wide as she jumped to her feet and said, "I'll be right back!" and like that she was running up the stairs. A few minutes later and she returned with the same book from the other day; Myths and Magic through the Ages.

She opened the book and started to flip through the pages until she stopped at a certain section. Everyone looked at the title to the page and it read, "_Familiar spirits and guides"._

The red-head looked through the page and said, "A 'familiar summoning' is just as it says. It's the act of summoning a familiar!"

"Ok…" Danny said, "That's not very helpful. How about, what is a familiar?"

"A familiar," Jazz continued, "is a supernatural entity believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic in old times. According to the records of the time, they would appear in numerous guises, often as an animal, but also at times as a human or humanoid figure, and were described as 'clearly defined, three-dimensional… forms, vivid with colour and animated with movement and sound' by those alleging to have come into contact with them, unlike later descriptions of ghosts with their 'smoky', undefined form."

"So then why was my familiar, or so I assume it was mine, so 'smoky' like a ghost?" the Goth asked.

"Didn't it say that you had to name it?" Jazz asked. "Maybe your connection to it isn't complete. Like your bond isn't solid without both of you knowing each other's' name."

"Or it's a power thing," supplied Tucker. Everyone stared at him like he was crazy. He quickly said, "It's like that bird said, it couldn't stay in this realm because Sam's powers aren't strong enough yet. Maybe it's the same thing for its form?"

Everyone nodded in understanding. Finally, Sam said, "well, it doesn't matter right now." She glanced at her watch and sighed. It was getting close to dinner and they all needed to leave so that their parents didn't worry. "Sorry, guys. I have to go. It's getting late and my parents are going to want me home soon."

"Same here, dude," said Tucker as he got up to leave. "Meet up tomorrow?"

"Yeah," said the teenager hybrid. And like that, his friends had left and it was just him and his sister.

"Well?" asked Jazz all of a sudden.

Danny cocked an eyebrow and replied, "Well… What?"

Jazz rolled her eyes and said, "Well, what do you think about this predicament? With Sam and her new abilities?"

Danny's face finally revealed his worry as he and his sister walk up the stairs to the main floor. "Honestly," Danny started, "I don't know. I'm happy that she found them and that she's in no danger right now, but I can't help but feel something is going to happen if we aren't careful. I don't want the things I've been going through to fall to her as well. Like the multiple enemies and possibly dark future. She doesn't deserve that."

Jazz smiled at her little brother and said, "Well, at least you're looking out for your friends. And I'm glad that we're on the same page about this. Now!" she clapped her hand together and said, "how about we order a pizza and watch a movie?"

Danny chuckled at how his sister could let her normal kid nature take over at times when she was just with him, but hid it when near adults. "Sure, a movie dinner sounds good." And they prepared for their sibling evening.

* * *

*_later that night*_

Skulker phased through the door to the Fenton Portal and took up a defensive pose. He waited… for something, anything that would mean a battle. But nothing happened. The hunter started to walk around the lab, half expecting the ghost boy to phase through the walls and attack him. But once again, nothing! Not even a sound! What, did they all go out or something?

Skulker phased through the ceiling and hovered above the floor of the main floor. He heard some voices but none that he recognized from the inhabitants of the household. "_Who else would be here?"_ he asked himself.

Moving silently through the main floor, he found his way to the living room, but jumped back into the kitchen when he saw people in there. If he had a heart, he thought he might have had a heart attack. He didn't expect to run into the whelp and his sister so soon.

The hunter turned invisible and looked back into the room with the two siblings inside. He flew in, expecting the ghost child to transform and come at him, but he didn't. _"Well that's odd,"_ Skulker mused.

He floated further into the room and found that the voices he had heard were from the television, or to be more specific, from the movie playing on it. Skulker looked at the movie box title and rolled his eyes; Ghostbusters, of course.

He looked at the two figures in the room and almost burst into a fit of laughter. It took all his willpower not to. Lying on the couch was the whelp in his human form next to his sister; both were fast asleep with an almost empty box of pizza on the coffee table.

Skulker would have thought that the scene was precious if not for the fact that he had a mission to accomplish. But he knew someone who would love to have a picture of this. The hunter pressed some commands into his PDA and raised his arm up so that the device was facing the two teens. With the press of a button, he captured the moment and sent it to his employer.

He watched as the young ghost hybrid squirmed in his sleep as a wisp of blue smoke left his mouth. Skulker cursed under his breath as he watched the child's ghost sense go off. He needed to get out and start searching the city.

Skulker turned and phased through the rest of the house until he was outside standing on the emergency OP center. "Now, where to start? Those blasted books could be anywhere in this town," the hunter pondered. Thinking about it more, there were really only three places that the books could be if they were lost in Amity Park. "They aren't here with the whelp, which leaves two possible places; Axion labs or the Guys in White facility."

Skulker shot towards Axion labs, hoping that his assumption was right. If anyone could hunt down those books, it was the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! Which meant him. And he was going to do it.

* * *

Vlad had been about to retire for the evening when his monitor said he had received something from the hunter.

Vlad raised an eyebrow and said, "There's no way that he could have gotten the books already. He could have only just gotten to Daniel's house. Maybe it's just a status update." Vlad walked back to his computer and pressed a sequence of buttons to open what the hunter had sent him.

Vlad gasped at the image that came from Skulker's message. It was of Daniel and Jasmine asleep in their living room. It was adorable! Vlad chuckled as he thought what could have been going through Skulker mind when he came upon this scene.

Well that did it. He needed to contact the hunter and ask how his search was going. If the hunting-crazed ghost had enough time to "capture" pictures, then he had no reason to have not found the books.

Vlad typed another sequence and waited for Skulker to pick-up the other end. Then he heard the hunter, but he was whispering, _"What do you want Plasmius? If you hadn't realised, I'm in a town where ghost hunting isn't as unpopular as you think."_

Vlad rolled his eyes at the simple statement. "Of course I know that Skulker! I'm the one who place most of them there in the first place!" he said in a slight rage. Then composing himself he said, "I want a status report. If you have time to send me images of Daniel then you have time for searching."

"_Will you keep your voice low, Plasmius? I'm at Axion labs. The whelp and his little helpers don't have the books so I'm checking the most likely places to find them. Unfortunately, that means being near ghost hunters. A little too close if you ask me,"_ replied the hunter.

Vlad understood that Skulker was trying to stay off the radar since the only places the books could have been dropped is if it was near a ghost hunter. And those consisted of the Fentons, Valerie Gray, and the Guys in White; all of which were formidable in battle.

If it had been found by Valerie, then it would be at her father's old lab. But if it was found by the GiW, then it would be at their base. Neither place was good since both had ghost security. At least at Axion labs, there wasn't a whole building of ghost hunters. He hoped for the hunter's sake that they were at Axion and not the GiW facility.

Turning back to the screen, Vlad said in a more hushed tone, "alright, but keep me updated if something happens."

After receiving a confirmation to his request, Vlad cut the connection and went off to bed. He then smiled as he thought of the picture of the two teens. They could act so cold towards him, even try and trick him! But seeing the two so defenceless in that image made it feel like he was there as a parent watching them. He chuckled at the thought and prepared for sleep.

* * *

Skulker cut his connection and flew into the building of the labs. He knew that Vlad owned the labs but did he have to put in ghost security? Moving to a control panel, the hunter turned off the ghost detectors and weapons and began his search.

It must have been an hour or two before he gave up in the labs, but he didn't bother to cover his own tracks. He just wanted to finish his mission and go home to rest. He was a hunter, not a delivery boy!

Skulker left and flew over the quiet town. Every once in a while he would hear some late night walker gasp or shout 'ghost' and run screaming, but he didn't care. They were just some pathetic humans who lived in a haunted town and couldn't hold their tongues.

He stopped mid-flight as he spotted his next location; the Guys in White facility. Of everything in this town, it was hard not to spot such a huge white building. It seriously didn't belong in the town for more than one reason.

He took a deep breath and flew towards the outskirts of the building. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many ghost hunters there this late at night.

* * *

Danny woke up with a start as another chill ran through his body and his ghost sense passed by his lips. Groaning in annoyance, he got off the couch and was about to transform when he saw his sister's sleeping form on the couch where he was moments ago. He sighed and put the blanket back onto his sister before he phased out the front door and transformed.

He shot into the sky expecting to see someone like the Box Ghost, but instead what he saw surprised him. It was Skulker, and he was… ignoring him. Now that didn't seem right. Skulker never let a chance like battling Danny Phantom get away. What gives?

Danny decided that it was better to go and find out for himself instead of just floating there like an idiot asking himself questions.

Danny followed Skulker through the town invisibly, making sure not to let the hunter know that he was being trailed. The last thing Danny needed was a ticked off ghost hunter who actually had the skills to hunt and kill him.

The two flew over Amity Park until Skulker suddenly stopped at the edge of town. Danny looked over the hunter's shoulder to see what the hunter was staring at only to quickly cover his mouth to stop a gasp as he saw the GiW white building. What was Skulker doing here?

Skulker started to move forward, but stayed on guard the whole time. Danny did the same, but was very wary of the place Skulker was going. Danny knew from past experiences that the Dorks in White were completely clueless, but deadly. They didn't care about Danny's human half when they had found out he was also Danny Phantom. He could only imagine what they would do to a full fledge ghost. It would probably make his dad's idea of ripping them apart molecule by molecule a blessing in comparison.

Danny shook his head at the thought but in middle of his actions he hadn't noticed that Skulker had stopped again and this time, Danny rammed right into him. Danny bounce off the suite of armour and held his no thumping head.

"Ow," Danny said. "Note to self, try to avoid doing that again."

Danny then realised that Skulker had turned to face him and was looking down at him in a mixture of surprise, confusion, anger and relief… but mostly anger. The hunter looked at the stunned child and said in a very aggressive tone, "What are you doing here, whelp? I don't have time for you right now."

Danny looked up at the hunter and thought about fleeing, but instead glared up at Skulker's metal form and said, "I followed you because my ghost sense went off. I think the better question is why are you here, at the Guys in White facility? I know firsthand how these guys operate, and trust me, you don't want to find out for yourself."

The two continued their little stare down, neither one even blinking or turning away. Finally, Skulker sighed and said, "I'm here on a mission for some inhabitants of the Ghost Zone, and my search has brought me here." Then Skulker got an idea; maybe the whelp could help him.

Danny looked at the hunter, and as far as he could tell, he was telling the truth. So, Danny dared to ask, "What kind of mission? I'm kind of on one myself, but I haven't found anything that would show that what I'm looking for is here."

Skulker turned his head towards the white building and smirked. The ghost child was making this very easy. "I believe we're looking for the same thing, whelp." Danny cocked an eyebrow, prompting the hunter to continue, "I've been hired by Frostbite and a mystery ghost to go collect some ancient books, which really aren't that ancient actually."

Danny's eyes widened at what the hunter had just said. Where they actually on the same side for once? Could this week get any weirder? Then Skulker spoke up again, "perhaps we should work together and accomplish this mission faster. My research has brought me here, and when dealing with ghost hunters, it's best to work with someone else." Yep, that did it. Things could definitely get weirder.

Danny thought about it for a moment. Skulker was right, it was always better to have back-up when dealing with ghost hunters. I mean, wasn't that why he had his friends by his side during their battles? Danny watched as Skulker put out a metal hand for a handshake and waited for him to do the same. He looked up at the hunter and said, "This is only a temporary truce. It last as long as it takes for us to get those books back and returned to their rightful owners."

Skulker smiled and said, "Agreed." And the two ghosts shook hands.

Suddenly, several rays shot through the air right at them. Both Skulker and Danny turned and maneuvered through the assault of rays as men in completely white suites arrived on the roof and in the air on jet packs.

The two got back to back in offensive/defensive pose as they were surrounded. "Get ready whelp, things are about to get rough."

* * *

A man in a white suit with a pair of black gloves, shoes and sunglasses was at his desk looking over a file of known ghosts within Amity Park. How was it that such a back-waters town could be so full of ghosts? And how was it that even the simplest of ghosts could escape them? They hadn't even been able to catch public enemy number one; Danny Phantom, the supposed _good_ ghost that protects the town.

The Guy in White refused to accept that this ghost was different from what their research had said about ghosts. Danny Phantom may have saved the town on more than one occasion, but that didn't prove anything.

The agent got up from his seat with the folder and began to pace as he read it. For all anybody knew, this ghost had an obsession with the town and was only protecting it because he didn't want other ghosts to have it. It was common for ghosts to have an obsession, which was the reason they were ghosts in the first place.

Suddenly, and alarm went off and the agent almost dropped the folder. A second agent ran in the room and said, "Sir, two ghosts have been spotted outside on the edge of town! They haven't moved yet, but I think you'll want to see this." and the agent fled out the door again as he continued to tell anyone he saw.

The man stood their dumbstruck. There were two ghosts… near _his_ facility? Not while he was in charge. The agent soon returned to his desk and pressed a button, revealing a video screen with current footage of the outside security cameras. And sure enough, there were the two ghosts. One was a metal looking ghost that the agent recognized as one of the many ghosts that attacked the town that would then be stopped by the Ghost Boy, but the other **was** the Ghost Boy! And the two were shaking hands? What was going on?

The man then grabbed his mic and said, "This is head agent, Agent C. Operatives K and O, take your teams and capture **both** ghosts. I want them back here for examination!"

Agent C turned off his mic and started to smile. And that smile turned into chuckle, which turned into a full on laugh. If someone was to walk in on him, the first thing they would probably think is that the man was insane, or possessed.

"I have you this time, Danny Phantom," Agent C practically spat.

* * *

"Danny Phantom and accomplice, you are under arrest!" shouted operative K through a megaphone from the roof.

Danny and Skulker looked around on high alert. At the first sign of danger, they would either flee for their life/after-life or get sucked into a battle. And it would probably be the latter.

"Arrested?" stated Skulker, "on what charges?"

Danny face-palmed himself at the question. Skulker did **not** just ask that. Did he really not know how these guys worked?

The hunter seemed to smile as he said, "For being a ghost of course. And disturbing the peace."

Danny glared at the man and put his hand up in the air as he exclaimed, "you have **got** to be kidding me! Of course we're ghosts, what was your first clue? And second, we haven't done anything to disturb the peace. If someone yells 'ghost' it's not our fault that they're scared."

Both operative K and O seemed to be annoyed by this, since they both yelled, "Attack and Capture!"

Danny and Skulker's eyes widened as they were bombarded with a flurry of attacks, which they proceeded to dodge. They countered with their own attacks, some even working together as they covered each other's backs.

The onslaught continued and eventually, the two ghosts were separated and slowly being surrounded by the Guys in White; both on the ground and in the air. Those in the air were attacking while those on the ground waited for their prey to fall to the earth and capture them in a weakened state.

Danny was fine, admittedly a little tired, but he could see that he was far better than Skulker. The hunter must have been searching for those books for days, because he looked exhausted; and they hadn't even gotten twenty minutes into the battle.

Danny continued to block attacks and blow guns into dust, but was focused on the hunter more than himself. Skulker was barely holding his ground. It was when the hunter had a ray shoot at him from his back that Danny gasped and teleported to the hunter's side and pushed him out of the way at the last second.

Skulker gasped at what had just happened. The whelp had just saved him and was now seriously injured, or at least it had stunned him quite a bit. Danny floated there, not moving. He was in too much of a daze to do anything. Skulker watched, completely horrified as operative O flew over to the young hybrid and put him a ghost trap that looked like the one he had used on the whelp himself. He could still see the dazed teen but there was no way he was getting out of there.

Skulker knew that he could either help the ghost child now and risk his safety, probably dooming them both, or he could find help elsewhere and save both their hides. He knew the whelp would probably feel betrayed by what he was about to do, but it was the better option.

Skulker shot a tracking device onto Danny's back before the ghost trap completely consumed him and flew as fast as he could back to the Fentons' portal. There was only one person that could help and he had to tell him face to face. It seemed wrong to tell him over a communicator. Instead, he sent a warning signal to the person. Skulker knew that the man would understand that it was urgent; he just hoped that he wouldn't be killed for his actions.

* * *

Some of the agent saw the hunter trying to escape and were ready to pursue him but then operative K said, "Leave him. We got our main target."

Operative O called out to operative K and said, "But Agent C wants both ghosts. Shouldn't we engage in chase?"

"No. Agent C will understand. Besides," said operative K, "Danny Phantom is a much greater prize."

Danny had no idea as to what was going on, but he knew one thing; he couldn't turn human! If they found out who he really was, then he could practically say goodbye to his somewhat normal life. He just hoped that he could keep his form long enough for someone to rescue him.

His last thought before he was brought half-conscious into the death building was, "_Well isn't this just perfect."_ And then he let his mind wander through the darkness of his empty thoughts.

* * *

Sam woke up with a start as she first felt a chill run down her spine and then her breath came as a cloud of smoke as she breathed. Well you didn't see that every day; especially in summer. Suddenly, it felt like someone was whispering to her, but inside her head.

Sam's eyes widened and she let the person through; it was Tucker. _"Did you feel that too?!"_ the techno-geek shouted in his mind. The Goth could tell he was just as concerned as she was if not more so.

"_Yeah. I think it was Danny's ghost sense. Remember? He told us what it felt like, so maybe that's was all it was."_ Sam thought.

Suddenly, she felt the same sensation and she heard both her and Tucker gasp in their minds. She didn't even need to ask if he had felt it or not; he definitely had. Sam got out of her bed and looked out her window. Out in the distance she saw Skulker and figured that Danny had sensed him.

"_Hey Tucker. I just saw Skulker fly by. I think Danny just sensed him and is going to take care of it,"_ Sam mused to her friend.

She crawled back into bed and tried to fall back asleep. Not even fifteen minutes later, she felt a surge of electricity flow through her stomach and gasped both out loud and in her mind. She felt the same reaction from Tucker and her face started to show her worry.

The raven had said that only something extremely traumatic would cause a shock between all of them, so did that mean something happened to Danny?

"_Sam?"_ called Tucker.

"_Yeah?"_ was all she could say through her jumbled thoughts.

"_I don't like the feel of this. I think Danny's in trouble,"_ he replied.

Sam sighed and looked out her window again. She then said, _"Same here Tucker. Something's not right. And we're going to get to the bottom of this."_

Suddenly, both teens heard their friend faintly as he said, _"Well isn't this just perfect."_ And then nothing more from him.

Both teens almost freaked out and had every intention to call Jazz to inform her, but the stopped. If this was as serious as they thought it was, they would need to go in armed and prepared. And unfortunately, that meant leaving their friend for a little while to his danger while they slept.

The two teens agreed to call Jazz in the morning and try and find out what had happened to their friend. But for now, they needed to sleep. Even if their sleep would be restless and full of nightmares. This was for their friend.

Before Sam fell into her uneasy sleep, she thought to herself, _"Don't worry Danny. We'll be there before you know it. Just hold on a little longer."_ And then she was lost to her own endless darkness.

* * *

**Phantom: Hey guys. Sorry that this sort of ended in another cliff hanger. But what can you do? Stories do that, especially ones that get good reactions out of their readers.**

**Trainer: Yes! I won my game of solitaire! … What happened to you?**

**Phantom: I just got out of a brawl! What does it look like?!**

**Trainer: Something the cat dragged in.**

***Phantom, Danny and Vlad all stare at Trainer dumbstruck***

**Vlad: you know… she has a point.**

**Danny: like you're one to talk.**

**Phantom: round two anybody? And this time we include our favourite pokemon fanatic.**

***Everyone has an evil gleam in their eyes as they stare at Trainer***

**Trainer: heh heh. Um… how about we return to what just happened in the story?**

**Phantom: fine. So, as you can all see, Danny is in quite the predicament, as well as Skulker when he breaks the news to Vlad. *snickers***

**Trainer: yeah! Who will get to Danny first? Vlad/Skulker, Danny's team or will the GiW finally get their guinea pig? I need to know! Not that I don't already know.**

**Phantom: well, I'm still withholding details from you, so that can be part of your punishment.**

**Trainer: first off; what punishment. And second; that's not much of a punishment.**

**Phantom: no, you're totally right on about that, but who said that was all I was going to do? … DOG PILE FIGHT ON TRAINER!**

***everyone jumps on trainer with Cujo in puppy form on top***

**Trainer: uhg! You… know I'm gonna get you back for… uhg this, right?**

**Phantom: umph… yeah, I know… but we're…chough… sisters. It's what we do! Ok everyone. Time to sign… ugh… out. AND THEN GET OFF US!**

**Everyone: See you all later.**

**Technus: WILL WHOEVER HAS THEIR KNEE IN MY STOMACH KINDLY REMOVE IT!?**

**Note: school officially starts next week so don't expect a new chapter to come out too soon. The rule is; school comes first, relaxsation and fanfiction writing come second… and then, something else comes third… I just don't know what.**

***********D

*********_DD_

_******DDDD*****DDDDD_

_****DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD_

_*****DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD_

_******DDD**DD**DDDD**D**DDDDDDDDD_

_*******DDDD******DD**D**DD**DDDDDD*DD_

_******DDDD********DD****DDDDD***D_

_********DDDDDDDD*****D***DDD_

_**********DDDDDDDDD***D_

_*******DDD**DDD**DDD**_

_******DDD**DDDDD**DDD**_

_******DD**DDDDD**DD**DDD**D**_

_*******DDDDDDD**DDDD**DDD**_

_********DDDDDDDD*****DDD**_

_*********DDDDDDDD**_

_**********DDD**DDDD_

_*********DDDD**DDD**_

_************DDDDDD**_

_*************DDDDDD**_

_**************DDDDD**_

_***************DDDDD** _

**Phantom: haha! I've always wanted to try and make something like this! It's Danny!**


	8. Chapter 8: Daniel in the Lion's Den

**Phantom: hey everybody! It's been a while!**

**Trainer: yeah, and I'll give you three guesses… and the first two don't count.**

**Phantom: school.**

**Trainer: well… that wasn't as hard as it should have been.**

**Phantom: no duh. That's right everyone, school is a few weeks in for us and it has been nothing but-**

**Trainer: CHAOS!**

***Phantom was shocked by the outburst and fell off her chair***

**Trainer: *staring at Phantom on the floor* what are you doing down there?**

**Phantom: Funny… I was asking myself the exact same question. Was it really **_**completely**_** necessary to make me, oh I don't know, HALF DEAF?!**

**Trainer: What?! It has been. Anyways, can we pleeeeeeease get on with the story. Stop keeping me in suspense!**

**Phantom: *smiles wickedly* oh come on, you can wait a little longer. I want to say some things from this week.**

**Trainer: … fine, but make it quick.**

**Phantom: alright, first, I'm known as a bad luck kind of person. You know, a black cat if you will. A jinx if that's what you prefer. Trainer and I were out one night when I thought I saw something watching me. I stop and look around and said, "is that a cat? … Yeah! It is!" it was a black cat and it jumped out of the shadows and rubbed against my leg. It really, really liked me. When I walked off, it followed for a little over a block. It was so cute!**

**Trainer: heh heh. Yep. It makes sense. Birds of a feather flock together. But it really was a cute cat.**

**Phantom: yeah… wait, don't you dare go all Ghost Writer on me!**

**Trainer: whatever, just get on with the story. You can say whatever you want about you turning into DP characters after the chapter!**

**Phantom: HEY! That was mine to tell, but I guess you're right for now. Without further ado, I give you chapter 8!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Daniel in the Lion's Den**

* * *

_Sorry guys, before we start I need to explain something. Sam's powers. Some people are confused about her powers. First off, Sam always had the makings to have powers. At least, ever since Danny got his ghost powers. Just think about it. Sam has come in contact with more ghost things than any other person in the show other than the actual ghosts and the hybrids. She used the amulet of the dragon that was Dora's, she became a plant ghost because of Undergrowth, she's worn a crown made in the Ghost Zone, and she was given powers in the episode where student got a 'mysterious' disease that gave then ghost powers. It's not uncommon for me to think that Sam got an ability of some sort from all of these occurrences. So now she has powers._

_Sorry to keep you, so on with the chapter! … Again._

* * *

Sam and Tucker were up bright and early to call Jazz. Actually, Jazz had called them. She had woken up in the living room, right where she and her brother had been having their sibling night. The television screen showed the main menu to the movie they had watched, the pizza box was still on the coffee table, but there was one thing missing; her brother. She and Danny had fallen asleep part way into the movie, growing tired of pointing out all the flaws in the movies' ideas about ghosts.

Jazz had expected to see her brother when she woke up, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not in his room, the lab, the kitchen. Heck! She searched every nook and cranny of the house and was almost tempted to go into the Ghost Zone if that's what it took!

She had finally called Sam and Tucker to see if he had gone to one of their places. To her dissatisfaction and growing worry, they both said that they hadn't seen or heard from him since last night. It wasn't a lie, they really hadn't, but they said they needed to talk to her about something and it couldn't wait.

A quick morning shower and a little cleaning later, the other two teens arrived at Fenton Works at about 7:30. If anyone saw them out on the streets this early in the morning on a weekend, they would have thought they were nuts. They had quickly dressed and suck out before their parents were even awake.

Jazz could tell just from their body language that they were tired, anxious, and most importantly, worried. They had small bags under their eyes, which indicated that they either didn't sleep or hadn't slept well.

Jazz let them in, and they dropped down on the couch exhausted. Both looked pretty glum and Sam looked like she was this close to tears.

Jazz wasn't sure if she should speak first or not, but she couldn't wait. She needed to know. Swallowing her growing fear, she said, "What's going on?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, looking like they were having a silent conversation; and they very well could have but they weren't. They were wondering where to start, but Jazz took they're stares the wrong way. Jazz exploded on the two teens, "**stop leaving me out of the conversation!**" she was close to tears herself. "If something happened to Danny and you two know something, then I think I should be the first to know!"

Sam and Tucker broke from their stare off and looked at the hysterical teen before them. They knew they had to tell here something, but how when they didn't know all that much either.

Tucker sighed and stared at the ground. There was no easy way to say this, but it had to be done. He looked back up at the red head and said in a weary voice, "we don't know where he is, but we heard and saw some things last night that might give us a start."

Jazz looked at the techno-geek for a minute before everything sank in. Her vacant stare turned to one of rage and she lunged for the techno-geek. Tucker leaped out of his seat as Jazz chased after him fuming, "You knew something and where withholding it from me? I thought you said you and Sam hadn't heard or seen him since last night. Give me three good reasons why I should hit you with the Fenton Staff."

Sam sighed and grabbed Tucker before Jazz could sink her nails into his shirt. Sam stood between the fuming girl and her cowering friend. She put her hand s up and said, "Jazz, please, let us explain. We weren't lying or anything when we said that we hadn't seen or heard anything from Danny since last night."

"Yeah!" Tucker piped in. "We heard Danny say in his head '_Well isn't this just perfect'_. But then… nothing."

"We also felt what Danny once described to us as his ghost sense and then a jolt of pain minutes later." Sam continued. "In-between the two sensations I saw Skulker fly by, heading back to your house I think. I'm not sure. All Tucker and I know is that something's not right and that Danny needs us."

Jazz seemed to deflate at the news about her brother. This was worse than when she didn't know about her brother's secret life. Now she knew that her brother could be in more danger than ever, and her not knowing where he was could cause him to get into another life-or-death situation. She didn't want a repeat of Danny going missing for months on end.

"Well," the seventeen year old said, "at least we have a start. Skulker must know something, so we should see what we can get out of him. Sam, did you see where Skulker was coming from when he came back to my place. Chances are that he entered and left through our portal anyways."

The Gothic girl looked at Jazz and shook her head, she wished that she had known; it might have leaded them to Danny faster. She couldn't stand the thought of losing Danny again. But she wasn't about to tell that to anyone.

Jazz sighed at the bad news. But she couldn't waste any more time, her brother needed them and so far they had done nothing. Jazz began to move to the stairs to the upper floors. Tucker had finally come out of hiding from behind his Sam-shield a cocked an eyebrow at the red headed teen.

He briefly looked at Sam and said, "Jazz, where are you going? I thought you said we should go and talk with Skulker."

Jazz paused for a moment and looked at the other teens. She the replied, "we are, but I need to get some stuff from my room first, then we'll take the Speeder into the Ghost Zone to track down Skulker. I you guys wouldn't mind, could you start preparing the Speeder, you know, with the usual." She started to list them off on her fingers, "weapons, food if you think we'll need it, and anything else that we'll need." She continued up the stairs and soon she was out of sight.

Sam and Tucker looked at the stairs and then at each other. They were actually going after Skulker. With a determined look sweeping their features, Sam and Tucker started to move with more vigour than ever before that morning.

As they separated to grab supplies, Sam said, "Skulker better know something if he knows what's good for him."

"Yeah, I'd hate to be the one on the other end of your anger today," Tucker said from the kitchen. He was packing snacks for all of them since it could be a while before they run into the hunter.

"Oh, I'm beyond anger, Tucker." Sam continued, "But I still can't believe that Jazz is all for us going into the Ghost Zone, let alone go to Skulker's without Danny."

"Well, this is Danny's sister we're talking about. She and Danny act the same when it comes to each other's safety." Tucker replied. "Sooooo, are we, like, crazy or something?"

Sam looked at her friend before she continued to pack herself some food as well. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

Tucker sighed, "Well, I guess it's because we're _willingly_ going to an island full of traps and dangerous creatures/ghosts, with a crazy hunting obsessed ghost who's been trying to get a Danny-pelt for his house since the day we met him. If that doesn't say we're crazy, I don't know what does."

Sam had to laugh at this. "Oh, come on Tucker. We've done things way worse than going to Skulker's island. Like when we took the Speeder and crashed Vlad's lab to rescue Danny from being cloned perfectly."

Tucker looked over at her and smiled. She knew what to say to lighten a mood, even when she was probably being affected by the situation the most. Then something dawned on the techno-geek and he sprinted out of the kitchen and into the basement lab. He soon returned with the infamous Boo-marang.

Sam looked at him and he explained, "Every other time Danny's gone missing, we used this," he held up the device for emphasis, and then continued, "Maybe, when Jazz comes back down we can try it!"

Sam was so happy, she could have hugged her meat-loving friend, but she didn't. "Tucker, that's a great idea." But then Sam thought of another disturbing thought, "But, what if it's like last time, where we couldn't find his ecto-signature?"

Tucker's excitement left him when he heard this. He hadn't thought of that. "Well, I guess that's why we're going to Skulker's place; to find out."

Sam nodded as she packed the last of the food away. Just then Jazz came in with her backpack. It was filled to the brim with gizmos and gadgets from her own secret stash. She had her favourite, the Fenton Peeler, as well as two small ecto-guns, her mom's double bladed staff, and a thermos. She wasn't sure how useful a thermos would be in the Ghost Zone, but it was better to be prepared than not.

She looked at the other two teens and asked, "Are we ready to go?"

The others nodded and headed to the lab. As the entered, they saw a very upset dog standing in front of the doors to the Speeder. The three teens stopped and stared. TJ was standing in their way and it didn't look like he was going to move.

"Guys," Tucker started, "I don't think he wants us to go. Now what do we do?"

Jazz stared at her brother's pet, which somehow also became hers as well. She was at a loss of what they could do.

Everyone was so entangled in their thoughts, that they didn't see Sam leave the room and then re-enter with the dog's leash. It was only when she actually walked over to the dog that the other two beings in the room noticed her.

"Sam?" Jazz asked questioningly, "What are you doing with TJ's leash? I don't think now is a good time for a walk."

Sam gave her a look and responded, "No, now is a perfect time. He's not trying to stop us, guys. His stance was one of protection and worry. Animals that are close to people get this way sometimes. Like when you're sick, your pet might come to comfort you because they know that something is bothering you."

Tucker finally caught on and said, "You mean, TJ's not trying to stop us? He wants to come with us?"

Sam nodded her head as she got closer to the animal. TJ looked happy to see the leash and was even happier when she opened the door to the Speeder. He jumped in and gave a bark of his approval. The other teens were stunned. TJ was just as worried as they were and wanted to help them.

"Well," Jazz broke the silence, "he does seem to want to come. Plus, he knows Danny's scent in both his forms. He'll be a good addition to the team if we come in range of Danny."

Everyone smiled and climbed into the Speeder after they grabbed some more weapons. They shut the door and opened the portal. Jazz took the driver's seat while Tucker became navigator. Sam stayed in the back with TJ so he wouldn't be too spooked by the Ghost Zone. As the engine came to life, the four occupants waited before Jazz thrust them forward into the green and purple atmosphere.

Jazz sighed and thought to herself, _"Please, Danny. Please be safe."_ And they travelled through the Ghost Zone to Skulker's island.

* * *

"Uhhh," Danny groaned as he tossed and turned on the floor. "Get away… no… get away, get away… NO!"

Danny shot up off the floor from his nightmare. Wait… NIGHTMARE! Danny looked around franticly. If he had just woken up from a nightmare, then he had fallen asleep, or gone unconscious! Someone might have seen him revert to his human form.

Danny looked down at his body and sighed in relief. He was still in ghost form, but how? He took in his surrounding with an alertness that could rival the kind a wild animal had when being hunted. Danny gulped at the thought. He really hoped he wasn't someone's prey right now.

The room he was in was actually quite spacious. It reminded him of Vlad's simulation room back in Wisconsin. There was a hologram over the walls that looked like the Ghost Zone. Heck, it felt like the Ghost Zone! It was green, purple and black, just like the atmosphere. The floor was a purple land mass, and it was cold. Not a bad sort of cold, but a familiar cold that makes a ghost feel welcomed in the ghostly world. It was no wonder as to how he was still in ghost form while in this place. He even felt energized like when he goes into the Zone.

Danny knew this wasn't the real Ghost Zone. No one had tried to shoot him yet. Plus the hologram was pretty bad in comparison to what he had seen was possible at Vlad's place. We could still see the walls pretty clearly; they were sterling white.

Suddenly, everything came back to the young hybrid. He had saved Skulker and got captured himself… and Skulker had flown off. Well, at least only one of them had been captured. Danny doubted that the hunter could last as long as he could if the Guys in White decided to test the limits of their strength.

Danny sighed and leaned on the closest wall to him. His friends would notice his absence, but how long would it be before they came to rescue him?

Danny glared at the ground in front of him and muttered, "Well, this is definitely worse than being capture by Plasmius or even being tortured by his lackeys."

With nothing better to do, he started to play with his ice powers, forming them into different shapes and forms.

* * *

"Sir," Operative K said. "Phantom is awake.

Agent C looked at him and said, "good, make sure our little guest is… comfortable."

Operative K looked at his superior confused. He knew that they were going to test Phantom, but what did Chrome really want? "Uh, sir," Operative K stuttered, "What exactly do you want us to do?"

Agent C cocked an eyebrow at the man and said, "If I must be clearer, put a ghost shield around him so that we can enter the room without being threatened. We're going to have a little chat with him."

Operative K nodded and left the room. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was make his boss angry.

Agent C went back to the monitors that kept track of the simulation room and its occupants. He watched the replay of Danny waking from his nightmare, and then flipped to the live footage of him playing with his powers.

"Since when do ghost sleep, let alone dream?" he asked the open air. True, none of them had ever seen or even interacted with a ghost before. It was their job to get rid of ghosts, not figure out what makes them tick. But now was a good chance to.

Agent C pulled out the folder with a picture of Danny Phantom paper clipped to the cover. He opened it and looked at their data on the elusive ghost. Looking at the information disgusted him, but he had to admit that most of the information was legit. The documents read:

_Danny Phantom (previously known as the Ghost Boy or Inviso-Bill)_

_Showed up a little over a year ago. Origin is unknown. Little is known about his past._

_Physical appearance: White hair, glowing green eyes. Wears a black and white jumpsuit that later received a logo that is supposed to be a "D" with a "P" inside of it to represent his name._

_Obsession: Unknown. Suspected to be fighting, protection, or some sort of combination of the two._

_Danny Phantom is a powerful ghost who seems to fight with other ghosts every night since he showed up. He's been found destroying the town and working with other ghosts from time to time. He went from menace to hero of Amity Park over night when he saved the town from the Ghost King, Pariah Dark. At that time, he stole the Fenton's ecto-suit (which was lost after the battle), teamed up with several of his presumed enemies and endangered the whole of the town._

_Known Powers: flight/hovering, ghost rays (can change form every once in a while), ice powers, ecto-whip. Other powers are unknown if there are any. He is somehow able to avoid detection until he shows himself._

Agent C closed the folder and leaned back in his chair. If Danny Phantom was the supposed "Good Guy" then why was he found with and then saved one of his enemies. Was it a front? Was the ghost just tricking everyone, readying a sneak attack while their guards' where down?

"Well, I guess we'll soon find out." Agent C stood and brought the folder with him. He made his way down the white corridors with utter familiarity. He stopped at a door marked with a sign that simulation room/cell.

They had to make this room a cell as well since they were seriously underfunded now a days. Operative K and O were there and waiting for their boss to arrive.

They looked at Agent C and he said, "Is everything set for me?"

The two operatives looked at each other and Operative K said, "Yes. The area is secure and all that's left is to turn on the shield around Phantom. He hasn't moved from that spot since he woke up. Should I turn it on now sir?"

Agent C cracked a smile and replied, "Yes. And you two, stay out here to make sure no one disturbs us." The room would become sound proof as soon as he stepped inside and then it would be just him and Phantom. Oh, how he hated this ghost over all else. He would enjoy 'testing' him later.

Operative K and O nodded before Operative O pressed a button. A second later, they heard a surprised yelp followed by angry shouting from within the room. Agent C smiled even more and entered the code for him to enter the room.

Danny looked up when he saw the door to the room open. He frowned when it was just a GiW agent. He should have tried to phase out of the room before they had a chance to do this. Then again, it was probably ghost proof. Agent C walked over to Danny, who was trapped under a glowing ghost shield. It wasn't so bad. He had room to stand up and walk/ float around. But a cage was a cage, and let's just say, he's not a fan.

Agent C stood in front of him now, and with the press of a button, a chair appeared out of the ground and he sat in it. Danny stared at the man with his glowing eyes.

Agent C adjusted himself so that he was comfortable, then said, "You know, if you keep staring, then I'll have to assume that this is part of your obsession."

Danny jumped at the sound of someone else's voice, but turned away, still glaring. _"He is SO not a part of my obsession… well, if I actually have one," _Danny thought to himself.

Danny sighed and said, "Why am I here? I haven't done anything wrong, and don't you dare pull that, 'it's because you're a ghost' excuse. It's not very valid since you guys don't know the difference between a good ghost and a bad one."

Agent C had to hold back a scoff, but he said, "My name is Chrome, but you can call me Agent C. You're here for several reasons, which I'm sure you can probably figure out on your own."

This time Danny scoffed, but he didn't hide it. Agent C cocked an eyebrow. Phantom acted like any other teenager, if his form indicated anything. Danny started to float off the ground and reclined mid-air. He finally said, "Well, this is kind of weird. I thought for sure that if you guys ever caught me, the first thing you would do was dissect me."

Agent C laughed. Danny glared at him and said, "Hey, don't laugh! From the way you guys are always hunting me, I had to figure that's what you wanted."

Chrome composed himself and said, "Oh, don't think you're getting out of anything involving testing. We just want to talk with you first, unless you'd prefer us to just skip the talking…"

Danny's eyes widened and he whipped his head towards the agent. He held up his hand and stammered, "NO! No, no let's go with the talking. Talking's nice."

Chrome smirked and said, "Good. We have some questions for you and we want to hear answers, truthful ones." He finished darkly.

Danny gulped, but nodded. Clearly, this was an agent who wasn't a fan. Ok, none of the GiW were fans of his, even if he saved them, but this guy really had it out for him. The agent's smile seemed to widen and rival Vlad's when he saw the hybrid's response.

"Good, let's begin with some easy ones," said Agent C. "When did you die?"

Danny pretended to think about it. He couldn't give them anything that would raise suspicions about him or lead to his secret. Finally he decided that things like this wouldn't give away anything important. So, he said, "fourteen… I was fourteen when I died." Hey, he wasn't lying. He was just not telling the whole truth.

Chrome nodded and continued, "Where did you die?"

"In a tunnel," Danny replied.

"How did you die?" the agent leaned forward on his seat. This could explain a lot about Phantom if he spilled the beans.

Danny looked at the agent with wide eyes. He stuttered, "h-h-how-how I died?"

The agent just nodded in response. Odd, how he could answer the other questions without skipping a beat, but froze when he actually had to talk about his own death.

"I-I-I don't want to talk about it," the half ghost said and looked away with what the agent could have sworn was pain. Well this was interesting. Was he reliving a memory?

The agent didn't push for an answer however. If he did, Phantom could go berserk on him and possibly break the shield. Instead, he continued to ask questions and Phantom answered most of them.

Chrome wrote down on a notepad he brought with him the things that Danny refused to talk about. It was odd what they were though. He didn't want to talk about his death, his fears, which ghosts he may be related to, the hardest ghost he ever faced, the list goes on.

Eventually, Agent C left the ghost boy to himself and left the room. As soon as he left, the shield disappeared. Danny lowered himself to the ground again and began to think.

"_If I was able to fall asleep in this room and not revert back to my human self, then I have nothing to worry about for now. But I can't just wait for a rescue, I should try and figure a way out of this before I regret saving Skulker,"_ he thought to himself. And so, he started plotting his escape.

* * *

Agent C walked out of the room with the folder and a full pad of paper covered in quick notes. It was surprisingly easy to get information out of Phantom. He thought it would be… harder. He was hoping to get some resistance so that he could punish the specter.

But no, Phantom was just like a teenager. He would obey at times when he was scared enough, but at others he would do what he wanted. When those times came, he'd be ready.

Operative K and O stared at each other then followed their boss down the hall to his office. Finally, Agent Chrome faced them outside his office and said, "Keep an eye on the security inside and outside the building as well as on Phantom. We don't want one of his famous 'disappearing' acts, and we definitely don't want one of his friends to help him."

"Yes sir!" the two agents said and hurried off. They wouldn't lose their only prisoner, especially since he was the only one they ever had.

As Chrome watched his men run off, he entered his office and smiled. "Well, Phantom. Let the games begin."

* * *

Skulker had entered the Ghost Zone late last night, and normally it would have taken him only a little over an hour to get to the portal Vlad had in Wisconsin, but he had been so freaked out that he had got turned around on his way.

By the time he reached the portal, it was already the next day. If he wanted to be accurate, he wasn't there till ten in the morning. That's the last time he lets himself get distracted while with a purpose. The whelp was counting on him, and so far he wasn't doing such a great job. Not to mention he would be the only one to capture and kill the child if he had anything to do with it.

Skulker could see the metal doors to the portal just a few feet in front of him. Sighing, he organized his thoughts so that he could tell Plasmius what had happened.

He arrived at the door about a minute later and knocked on it. When he got no response he punched it with his metal fist.

He did it again and heard a muffled swear of pastries on the other side. Then he waited.

* * *

Vlad had been in his lab after breakfast working on his designs for a space station. Ever since Daniel had showed him those pictures and images from space, he had though it to put his station there. He just needed to figure out some final calculations and adjustments before it could be built.

He was writing down a side note when he could have sworn he heard a faint tapping. He wouldn't have heard it if it hadn't been for his enhanced ghostly hearing. Thinking it might just be one of the maids, he returned to his work.

A second later, the tapping stopped but then became a loud metal ringing bang. Vlad jumped and fell out of his seat. In his moment of surprise, he swore, "Butter Biscuits!" When it happened again, Vlad growled and transformed into his ghost form. He floated over to his portal, charging a pink ecto-blast as he went. Whoever it was, they were about to learn the true meaning of **pain**.

Vlad opened the portal and raised his hand for an attack. His rage was soon snuffed out and replaced with surprise again. Skulker stood, well, floated before him. The hunter's smile had vanished and was replaced with his usual stern face as he watched Plasmius snuff out his energy.

Vlad smiled and said, "Well this is a surprise. Does this mean you retrieved the books?" he returned to his work bench and went to pick up the chair that had fallen over a few moments ago from Skulker's impulsiveness.

Skulker looked anywhere but at his employer. He really didn't want to be the one to tell Vlad about the whelp. Vlad was never one for the phrase 'don't shoot the messenger'.

Vlad raise an eyebrow at the hunter and said, "Is something wrong Skulker?" Vlad had always been able to read people and when they were hiding something.

The hunter sighed. Never a good sign. Skulker looked up at Plasmius and said, "Actually, I have some bad news. When I arrived in Amity Park, I had no troubles getting past the whelp when I headed to Axion labs. When I could find anything there, I went to white hunters' facility. Apparently, the whelp had followed me to the facility. Probably because his ghost sense went off the second time I passed his home."

Vlad stared at the hunter before he muttered, "Fudge! Did Daniel send you back into the Ghost Zone? Did he prevent you from getting the books?"

Skulker looked away and shook his head. "No," he said, "the whelp caught up to me and we made a deal. We currently have a truce until the books are returned to their owners. At least one."

Vlad watched the hunter closely. He was obviously uncomfortable about something, and was still hiding something. "It's good to know that you two were getting along, even if it was only for a short while. If that's it, I hardly see what the problem is."

Skulker gave the older hybrid a hard look. He said in a grim tone, "I didn't say that was everything Plasmius. Like I said, we were outside the hunters' building, but then we ran into some troubles."

Vlad stared at the hunter with his blood red eyes. They narrowed into slits with his rising anger as he said, "Double fudge! What could have happened out there that you and Daniel couldn't get the books?" When Skulker didn't answer, Plasmius' anger started to make the lights flicker as he demanded, "Skulker, What happened?"

Skulker took a wary step back and put his hands up in a surrendering pose. "Easy, Plasmius," he said, trying to calm the other ghost before the room exploded. "Just promise me that you won't do anything to harm me. I'm only trying to help the whelp."

Vlad's energy died at the mention of Danny needing help. "Skulker," he said carefully, "what… happened?"

Skulker let out another sigh. "We were attacked," he said bluntly. It was better to just say it than hold off any longer.

Vlad had to steady himself on the work bench. Daniel and Skulker had been attacked? He really hoped the hunter wasn't about to say what he thought the hunter was going to say. All he could do was mutter, "triple fudge."

Then, Skulker continued, "as soon as we made the deal, we were surrounded."

Vlad muttered, "Quadruple fudge," still too stunned to do any more than that. He was still processing what the hunter had said so far.

"As we fought of the hunters, we became more and more distant from each other. Eventually we we're defending ourselves more than attacking. One of the humans shot in my blind spot and I was about to be hit by it. The whelp saw it coming and teleported to my side. Unfortunately, when he pushed me out of the way, he couldn't escape the blast and was hit," the hunter said. It pained him to even say it, but it had to be done.

He watched for his employer's reaction, but it never came. He had a distant look in his eyes that said he was beyond shocked. So Skulker continued, "I had to leave or risk being captured too. The whelp would have wanted me to, but he needs help Plasmius. When they took him away, he was still in his ghost form, but I don't know how long he can stay like that. Especially when they might torture him."

That did it. Plasmius shot the hunter a look, coming out of his thoughts. His friend was right, Daniel needed help and he doubted it would come from his little friends. Vlad growled and said, "Oh, fudge buckets! Skulker, I'm going after him. If anything happens, I'll let you know."

And with that, Vlad dove into the portal. He had only one destination, and that was the Fenton's portal. Skulker watched and let out a sigh when he lost sight of him. The whelp didn't know how lucky he was to have Plasmius watching out for him. He just hoped that Plasmius could get to him in time. In the meantime, he had to return home. There were some things he had to take care of, and they couldn't wait. So Skulker flew into the Ghost Zone as well and headed to his island.

* * *

It was just after twelve when Agent C returned to the simulation room/ cell. Once again, they had turned on that stupid ghost shield, and it limited Danny's movements to some degree. He glared at Chrome with such intensity that Vlad would have been proud of.

Danny had been pacing before the agent had arrived. He didn't want them to get to the part where they 'tested' him. But when Agent C said they were going to start as soon as he entered the observation room, he started to panic a little inside.

He could withstand almost any kind of pain to a certain point, but if he lost all his energy, then he'd revert and expose himself. He couldn't let that happen. He prepared for the worst, but was relieved a second later.

Chrome's voice boomed over the intercom as he said, "we're going to see what you can do in battle, Phantom. We only really know your basic abilities. So give us a good show."

Danny chuckled and said, "If you think I'm going to reveal all of my tricks, you must be crazy. I'd only do that if I was about to die or something." He thought he was being smug, but then he regretted it.

Agent C smiled and said, "Well, if that's what it takes, then that's what we'll do. Oh, and don't let your guard down so easily."

Danny tilted his head and mumbled, "What's that supposed to mean?" unfortunately, he got his answer in the form of an ecto-ray nicking his right shoulder. Danny recoiled and looked at his now smoking shoulder. He face-palmed and said, "Oh, **that's** what that means."

Danny created a shield and prepared a blast of his own. He destroyed the automatic gun, but then more appeared. He continued like this until he was being shot from every angle. Now he was barely keeping a shield up.

Operative K and O were monitoring the hybrid's progress and the room's controls. Finally, Operative O said, "He's not too bright is he?"

Agent C chuckled and said, "Well isn't this what we wanted? For him to get to a point where he had to reveal all his secrets to us?"

Both operatives nodded and continued to look at their monitors. Chrome watched out the window at the hybrid and waited for him to do something new. And he got it.

Danny knew that the room was acting like the one Vlad had, and that it would only stop or change tactics when he destroyed all the guns or they decided to change the behaviour of the room. But he couldn't just stop fighting or he could seriously hurt himself. Finally, he decided that he had to go all out right now, if only to save his skin.

He created a duplicate and the two got back to back with the shield still up. Both had changed the energy running through their hands from neon green to and icy blue.

All three GiW waited, but it was Chrome who was waiting for the attack. They hadn't even known that Phantom could duplicate, but he had. Who knew what else he had hidden in that tiny body. The fact that he had suddenly changed the colour of his energy also intrigued them. Since when could ghosts change their energy's colour? Did that mean something?

The two Danny's released their shield and shot out the frozen energy at everything around them, instantly destroying the guns. The real Danny sighed out a breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding. He called back his duplicate and landed on the ground again. He wasn't tired or anything, he had learned long ago how to use as little energy as possible so that he didn't faint after a battle. But man was that hard.

Chrome was impressed. They were learning new abilities from this one ghost who was much younger than any ghost they had ever seen. The only one they bet could truly rival Phantom was the Wisconsin Ghost.

"Start the next program," Agent C said. He personally liked this one. It was meant as a sparring program in which the GiW had to use their weapons to defeat the enemy, but in this case, it would test Phantom's reflexes and exactly what he could do with his other powers. He had seen the tape of him playing with that same blue energy and making other shapes. If it could freeze things then he wanted to know more about it.

Danny finally caught his breath just as the room brought up moving targets. Danny looked around and smiled. He then cockily remark, "Hey, Chrome. If you wanted me to just hit moving targets then you should have sent in some of your men. I would have hurt them as bad as these things."

Chrome's eye twitched under his sunglasses and said into the mic, "Don't get familiar with me ghost boy. If you think this will be easy, let's see you do it without moving from that spot on the ground."

Danny just laughed and said, "You're so on."

Danny started to shoot with his normal green energy, forming it into beams, balls, and even fast flying disks, all without moving. Chrome got irritated and spoke to Danny again saying, "Now without you're green energy."

Danny frowned but complied anyways. He didn't want to show them everything, but they weren't leaving much room for that. He switched to his calmer blue energy and began firing again. It wasn't as effective as his green energy. His green energy could destroy the targets in one shot, but with his blue energy, he had to fire twice to even think about breaking them.

Chrome smiled. True, it wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but it was still a different energy. And from the looks of it, it was weaker than the ghost's usual energy. Interesting.

Agent C still wanted to see more of the freezing energy though, so he finally said, "Good, but let's see what you can do without that energy too."

He received an unsatisfied grunt from the hybrid, but Danny complied again. He wasn't one to let someone else win over him when it came to a challenge with his powers. Danny extinguished his blue flames and brought forth his ice powers again.

He knew he wouldn't be able to destroy the targets if he just froze them, so he did what he thought he should; he created a weapon with the ice. He made his favourite one; the scythe that resembled Clockwork's staff and had his DP logo along the blade.

He started swinging the weapon around with such skill; it looked like he had been doing it for years when in reality, it had only been several days. To the trained eye, he was actually quite sloppy. Now the only problem was, how was he going to reach the targets?

Danny looked at one of the nearer targets, but it was still out of reach. He couldn't use his levitation powers; he wasn't about to show them every trick he knew. But how could he get to the targets? He wasn't allowed to leave the spot.

Then he thought of something that made a huge ear-to-ear grin appear on his face. All three GiW men looked at the young hybrid, utterly confused. What was he so happy about? They just made this practically impossible for him.

Danny summoned forth more of his ice energy, and a few seconds later, there was a chain attached to the end of his scythe. He began to swing the chain around his head and the scythe followed the movement. Within a minute, all but one target was sliced in half and destroyed.

The final target appeared at the very centre of the ceiling and Danny's chained scythe wouldn't reach it if he swung it. So Danny did the only thing he could. Actually, he really needed to let off some steam. These germ-a-phobic idiots were grinding on his last nerve. He threw his icy weapon up at the target and it and the scythe exploded into fragments.

He was sick of being here, and he couldn't figure a way out. He really hoped that Skulker or his friends were coming for him; otherwise, he could kick his half-life goodbye. "Come on guys," he mumbled so no one could hear him, "hurry up."

Suddenly, Agent C's voice came into the room and he said, "That's all we'll do for now Phantom. But we'll be back later."

"Great," Danny grumbled.

* * *

Team Phantom had travelled for almost two hours since their departure. Without Danny, they had a hard time finding their way around the unfamiliar area. They eventually arrived at the hunter's island, but not before the same hunter had eaten them there.

Skulker had arrived an hour before them, but when his sensors said that something had intruded on his territory, he got mad. No one can onto his land without permission and got away with it. Well, almost no one. It was time for a hunt.

Meanwhile, Team Phantom had flown over to a clearing on the far side of the island to try and avoid the hunter; at least in the beginning.

When Jazz landed the Speeder, the two other teens were loading up on weapons. They were even going to bring TJ to be their warning system.

Soon enough, the three teens and dog jumped out of the Speeder and started walking in the direction of the hunter's abode. Sam kept a firm grip on the dog leash while Jazz and Tucker each had a weapon ready for use if they were attacked.

They had learned early one from Danny and now their own experiences that the island was booby-trapped and that one bad move could result in a spike in the foot. TJ warned them part of the time but Tucker had had several close calls of his own.

*click*

Sam whipped around in time to see a glowing red dot behind them. She immediately yelled, "Duck!" While she tackled TJ to the ground, Jazz and Tucker dropped and put their hands over their heads. A second later, twenty stun darts flew over them and struck the area in front of them.

Some of the darts had hit the surrounding foliage while the rest hit the ground. After the firing ceased, the group got up and saw the damage. "Thanks, Sam," Tucker said, turning to his friend with a relieved look on his face.

"Um, guys," Jazz interrupted. She was looking ahead of them, and didn't like the looks of it. Sam and Tucker looked up and were about to ask what was wrong when they saw it; Skulker's home. "We should be careful guys. We don't know what Skulker's set up for intruders."

The team moved forward, but didn't come across any more traps. It was weird; they thought there would be more around his home. As they approached, TJ whimpered and tried to pull away. Sam didn't even need the dog to do that, she was feeling uneasy about this too. It was too easy.

As they entered the house, Sam couldn't hold in her thoughts in any longer. "Guys, I hate to say this, but something's off. TJ and I both feel it. Doesn't it seem…" she trailed off.

"Too easy?" the other two said.

Sam nodded as they took in the interior of the lair. There was almost nothing in the first room. Just a few couches and chairs. "Maybe, Skulker just doesn't need that much since he's a hunter," Tucker said hopefully. He didn't like the vibes he was getting off this place either.

They moved further into the room, but when they heard another click, they looked around frantically for any incoming darts, snares and other traps. When nothing appeared, they let out a sigh. They must be hearing things.

Suddenly, a glowing net came out of the ceiling and captured all off them within it. In a tangle of limbs, Team Phantom shouted and made their protests. Even TJ was barking up a storm.

"I think we should have listened to Sam and TJ," Jazz said. "I'm starting to think this isn't Skulker's house."

"Really, what was your first clue?" Both Sam and Tucker said in monotone. Somehow, they knew that this was going to happen eventually.

Seconds later, Skulker appeared and was shocked to see who it was. _"The whelp's helpers? Why are they here? Shouldn't they be heading to the White Hunters' facility?"_ the hunter thought to himself.

Finally, Skulker asked, "What are you pups doing here?"

TJ growled at the hunter and Jazz said, "We're looking for Danny. He went missing, and we saw you out last night in Amity Park. What were you doing there, and how does it involve Danny?" Jazz was ticked and she wanted answers.

Skulker watched the red head and Dalmatian closely. "What makes you think that I know something about the whelp? And what I do in Amity Park is my own business," the metallic ghost said.

"Don't even try worming your way out of this, Skulker. I know you were near Danny last night… ok, TJ knows. He can smell Danny on you," Jazz retorted. "Oh, and since Amity is our home, I think it is our business when you do something in our town."

Skulker smirked. These humans really did have good detective skills, but they were searching in the wrong places. And they even brought resources to help them in their search. "If you're insinuating that I've done something to the pup, then I'm afraid you'd be horribly wrong."

Sam finally turned around and faced the hunter. "Oh, don't even try it Skulker. I saw you last night. It can't be a coincident that I see you and then Danny goes missing the next morning."

Skulker watched the Goth with more interest than he would have earlier. Her eyes were glowing again, but Skulker had never seen it before. Skulker didn't know what he should do; should he tell them that the whelp was in trouble and was being saved already, or should he say nothing? If he didn't say anything, they wouldn't leave him alone, that was a given. But if he did the other option, they would barge into Plasmius' place without a second thought. No, he couldn't do that. But what about a half-lie?

Tucker was beginning to feel uneasy in the silence, and he didn't like the way that Skulker was staring at Sam. What was so-? "Oh my god!" Tucker said. Everyone turned to look at him as he continued, "Sam, your eyes are glowing again! But then… where's that-"

A second later, a raven cawed and appeared on one of the couch's arm rests, its eyes glowing a bright violet. Sam looked at it, as did everyone else. Finally it said, "I can't leave you people alone for more than a day, can I?"

Sam growled, "Oh, like you know what's going on."

Skulker looked from the bird to the four beings in the net. What in the Ghost Zone was going on here? Who was this bird and what was its connection to them; or more specifically, with the younger girl?

In the meantime, Jazz had been slowly breaking the net away. Eventually, it couldn't hold them up any longer and they fell to the ground with a loud thump. As everyone tried to get to their feet, the raven flew over to and landed on Sam's shoulder. Skulker was surprised to say the least.

Ignoring his many questions, the hunter said, "Hmmm, no wonder the whelp keeps you around. Maybe I should hunt you as well."

Of course, all three teens shuddered at the thought. They didn't know, but that was Skulker's way of saying that he liked them and was impressed. "Thanks, but no thanks," Jazz said. "We just want to know where Danny is, and then we'll get out of your home."

Skulker's eyes widened in disbelief before he broke out into hysterics. That was the funniest thing he had heard all day. When he finally calmed down, he said, "This isn't my home whelp. This is a fake, a trap for anyone who tries to sneak up on me on my turf. My home is further off to the north."

Sam smirked and said, "Well I hate to say it, but-"

"Yeah, yeah, you told us so," Tucker chimed in. he was trying to get his bearings since TJ had been the one to fall on him.

"Well, anyways, we want answers Skulker. We didn't come here to fight," Jazz said.

The hunter looked at the teens and sighed; time for a half-lie. "Yes, I was in Amity Park. Like I told the whelp when he followed me, I'm just trying to complete my mission. And before you ask, I won't tell you. You can ask the whelp yourself when you find him. But that's why I probably smell like him. The last I saw him; he was outside the White Hunters' building. That's all I'm going to say. Now get off my island!"

Sam, Tucker and Jazz exchanged a conserned look before they made their way to the door. But then Skulker spoke again, "I think I deserve at least one question answered however."

The three teens exchanged another look before Sam said, "Depends, what's the question?"

Skulker smirked, "nothing much really. I want to know why you suddenly have glowing eyes and a talking raven."

Sam stared back at the hunter, but decided to just tell him. It wasn't like it could stay a secret forever in the Ghost Zone with the way news travels here. "If you must know, I recently found out I have magic/ghostly powered abilities. But I'm not, repeat **NOT**, half ghost."

And with that the small group left. Skulker waited till they left and then he said to the air, "Well you're still a rare specimen. Perhaps I should consider just hunting the whelp and his friends. It could make things easier."

Meanwhile, Team Phantom made their way back to the Speeder. If what the hunter said was true, then Danny was caught by the GiW. If Skulker knew this, would he really have just left Danny there? That answer would have to wait; Danny needed them.

Without a second thought, the group got back into the Speeder and headed for home. Danny had been missing for too long, and who knew what those creeps where doing to him!

Jazz looked at her brother's friends, but then returned to driving. She then said, "Don't worry guys, we'll get him back."

Sam was down and the raven, along with her glowing eyes, had faded away again. Tucker sighed and said, "If he's not there, we'll resort to plan B; the Boo-merang. But so far, it hasn't even picked up on his trail."

All three teens sighed, but prepared for their upcoming battle.

* * *

It was about four in the afternoon now, and for the most part they had left Danny alone to his thoughts. He still could find a way out of the room other than the door that they entered and left from, but that wasn't an option. They kept putting that shield on over him before they entered.

He knew they'd be coming soon, and he doubt there was anything else that they wanted to do other than experiment on him. If it came to that, then he would really need to find an escape before his secret was revealed. The last session had drained him somewhat and he had refused to rest for fear of them coming in while he was out.

Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of moving parts and quickly looked around the room. He was currently floating in the middle of the room, but he couldn't see anything coming at him. So where was it coming from?

He soon got his answer when a giant claw came from behind him and shot out a pink beam. It hit him in the back and he started to fall to the ground. The claw was big enough to grab him around the stomach and it pulled him towards the ground below him.

A table formed from the floor and the claw held his stunned body on it while ecto-enhanced cuffs wrapped around his wrists and ankles. When he finally had enough senses in him, he realised what had just happened.

Agent C entered the room with a tray of glowing objects and a bunch of devices which the hybrid was sure weren't going to be fun to deal with.

Danny mumbled, "Man, I hate it when I'm right."

Chrome apparently didn't hear him. He was too busy with the glowing objects to really pay attention. Danny turned his head and nearly gasped at what he saw. On the table was a bunch of objects that could have only come from the Ghost Zone; I mean, what other objects that were **glowing** come from?

Among them he saw things like discarded pieces of metal, tuffs of animal fur, and… the books! All three in perfect condition! How did the Guys in White get their hands on them? Skulker had been right; the books did end up here. _"Wow that made me sick just thinking about it. Since when is Skulker right about something before me?"_ Danny thought.

Danny watched as the man switched from the objects to the devices. He grabbed a needle and turned to Danny. The young hybrids eyes widened when he saw it. He really, really, _really_ hated needles, and he didn't like the look of Agent C with it. "Heh, heh. I… I hope you're not planning to do what I think you are," Danny said, and his features turned into a worried frown.

Chrome looked down at Danny and said with a smirk, "Well, I wouldn't to be in your position. And if you mean, am I going to do _this_," and he stabbed Danny right where his core would be, "then yes, yes I am."

Danny grunted with discomfort, but he wasn't about to scream. He wasn't going to give the ghost hunter the satisfaction of his pain. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. Agent C pulled on the other end of the needle and it started pulling out a clear liquid from his core. It was glowing and was slightly green in colour, but at first glance it was clear.

"Hmmm, interesting. I haven't met a ghost with this kind of energy yet. Usually it's something more colourful, like neon green or electric blue," Chrome said, but it could barely be heard over Danny's screams of pain. So much for not doing that.

The agent pulled the full needle out and Danny had a green stain of ectoplasm on his jumpsuit, covering part of his DP symbol. As the agent turned and put the needle on the tray again, he heard Danny panting. He looked back at him and said, "Since when do ghosts need to breathe? Or is this all an act?"

Danny glared and gasped, "ghosts… feel pain… too… you know." This just earned a smirk from the man as he returned to picking out his next torture device.

He did several things like take hair and blood samples, which Danny hated because he didn't want to be cut open. But every time he fought against his restraints, Agent C pressed a button that sent several volts of electricity into the young hybrid's system. It was worse than when Plasmius did it! Mostly because it would stop one moment, but then continue the next!

Some of the instruments Danny recognized as simple x-rays and analysis machines, but there was one that he didn't know what it did. It had a strange black liquid in it that he knew wasn't oil since it glowed slightly. Something about it he didn't like and he knew to never doubt his instinct; this thing was dangerous.

Chrome went through all the other devices, some of them cutting Danny pretty badly. Soon the floor was covered in a green liquid and Danny was gasping for air. He was losing too much blood and could possibly pass out before the man left the room.

Suddenly, two white rings appeared at his waist and he gasped. This had happened five times already since he had been stabbed by the needle. Every time, he forced the rings to fizzle out and stop moving apart. If this continued, his secret, and his life, would be over soon!

Chrome watched for the sixth time as the rings appeared and disappeared from the hybrid's waist. What on earth were those rings? Were they another power he hadn't showed them, or was it something totally different? He had to know.

When Danny had recovered somewhat from the efforts, he looked back at the mysterious machine with the black glowing liquid. It was the only thing left, and he was sure he would dread every moment of it later.

Chrome caught the hybrid's gaze and followed it to the machine. He smiled. He had never been able to use this machine since there hadn't been any ghosts they could capture. Not even the Box Ghost could be caught.

He looked back at Danny and said, "You know Phantom, this is a device that we rarely get to use. Do you know what it does?"

Danny was drained and couldn't think very clearly, but he heard the question and instinctually shook his head no. He had never seen anything like it. Not even his parents had anything that resembled it. Chrome's smile widened and he said like it was obvious, "since I haven't used this device in a while, I can only tell you the possible outcomes for when we use it. See that black liquid? Well, we're going to insert some of it into your core."

Danny's eyes would have widened if they weren't looking so distant at the moment. Agent C continued, "That way, you and the machine will be connected in some way. Now, either the liquid will make your core go into shock, or it will excite your core and we'll see what kind of core it really is. But I'm pretty sure both ways could easily kill you. So, let's give it a try."

Agent Chrome moved over to the device and pulled out what looked like a needle gun. Within the cylinder-like capsule was a dose of the black liquid. Danny saw it and tried to move but he was already so worn out that even the slightest movement caused him pain. A second later, the barrel to the gun was placed against his chest. It was cold and he could have sworn that it had stabbed him. Chrome got down to Danny's ear and whispered, "I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer, you demon."

Danny felt more than heard the gun go off. It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, but he watched as the liquid seeped into his core. Danny would have been relieved that there was no pain, but that just signalled something in his brain; setting off warning signs everywhere.

The young hybrid watched as the evil agent pulled away with the gun and moved back over to the machine. Something that Danny had totally missed was that at the top of it was a ball that looked like the one that belonged at the end of Technus' staff. Chrome turned to face Danny and smiled before he said, "I hope you had fun in your after-life, Phantom. Because you're about to lose It." and he turned on the machine.

As the machine hummed to life, the ball on top began to spark and send out tendrils of electricity; all of which were being attracted to Danny's body. The hybrid's eyes widened as he felt the liquid in his core begin to go erratic as the electricity consumed his form.

It was horrible! The worst feeling he had ever had. Worse than if you combined the damage that Pariah Dark, Vortex, and even Vlad could produce all together. He felt like his whole body was on fire, but he was going to freeze over. At this rate, he was afraid that his body would turn to goo if he didn't do something, anything to stop it.

Danny did the only thing he could do at the moment; he screamed. He screamed so much he didn't even realise what was going on around him.

* * *

Vlad had arrived at the GiW facility just after four. He had to do several things before he could find Daniel.

He had to know if Daniel was really here.

He would have to destroy and deactivate the security and all evidence concerning the younger hybrid so the men could find any clue as to who he really was.

He had to rescue Daniel; with brute force if needed.

He would also need to get rid of any guards if he was ever hoping to get the boy out of there in one piece.

Vlad floated in through the front doors and became invisible. He travelled down a white corridor and found an office marked 'Thomas Chrome, head agent.' He knew Thomas. He was the man in charge of this branch of the Giw that came to Amity after he put that bounty on Daniel's head. He never did get rid of that. He was also fairly sure that this man had a grudge against Phantom for something to do with the Pariah Dark incident. Probably just hated that a ghost did his job better than him.

Vlad walked in and found a desk covered with papers concerning the young hybrid and a computer with file after file of the same thing. And Vlad thought ghosts were obsessive. The older hybrid got to work looking through the files and papers. Most of them said the same things he found in his own research, so he burned them out of existence with his energy. The same went with what was on the computer, except he deleted the information and any back-up copies.

He found out that this computer also had direct access to the building's security system and promptly shut it down. All recordings were disposed of and now all that was left was to find Daniel. He didn't need any more proof than what had been in this room to know that his younger counter-part was in the building somewhere.

Just as he was about to leave the room to go searching, he saw something that caught his eye. It was a photograph. Plasmius picked up the photo and gasped. It was the books! They were here somewhere too. "Well," Plasmius said, "looks like Skulker was right after all. That ghost must have come too close to this place and those dolts fired on him."

Vlad stashed the photo and the papers that went with it in his jumpsuit and floated out of the room. The Vlad said, "Now to find-", But he didn't get finish his sentence.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**"

A huge scream erupted and echoed throughout the building. Vlad had to turn intangible to avoid falling debris as it continued. "Daniel!" Vlad shouted, and flew after the sound. The closer he got the more certain he was that it was Danny. But it wasn't the boys Ghostly Wail, as he put it. Otherwise the sound would have brought the place down minutes ago.

Vlad found a room marked 'simulation room/ cell' and flew in past the busted door. _"Daniel's wail __**definitely**__ can't do that,"_ he thought and then he froze. Danny was screaming his head off and he could see why. A machine was doing something to him but Danny probably couldn't even see the damage to the room.

There were scorch marks everywhere and more were being made by exploding balls of _green _energy. Danny's eyes where glowing so bright, that the only colour that could be seen was green. It almost looked like his eyes had become a solid green because of it.

Near the far wall was a man that Vlad recognized as Chrome. His suit was burnt and he looked like he was trying to figure out what they hell was happening. "What the hell!" the man yelled. "This wasn't supposed to happen; it was supposed to kill him!"

Vlad flew over to the man and barked, "What did you do? Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

Thomas Chrome stared at Plasmius in utter shock. How did a ghost penetrate their defences? But that didn't matter at the moment, right now; he had to stop Phantom from destroying all of them.

"I injected that liquid into Phantom's core and after I turned on the machine everything started to explode. The only things not getting destroyed in here are you, Phantom, those ghost books, and the machine," said the agent.

Vlad stared at the man and said, "Well then shut. It. OFF!" Vlad looked back at the younger hybrid, which was still out of control. Wait, did he say books? Vlad looked at the tray and saw the three books that they had all been looking for. One of them, a book with a big green gem in the centre and smaller green ones surrounding it in the pattern of a sun, was glowing extremely bright and the centre gem was almost neon, emerald green.

Chrome was about to try and disarm the machine when a ball of energy exploded in front of him sending him into the wall, where he lay unconscious. Vlad raced to the machine and gave it a once over. It was damaged badly, and there was no way to shut it off now. But a few capsules of that black liquid still survived the explosion.

Tucking some of them away to be analysed, Vlad lifted a glowing pink hand and destroyed the machine. This was what was hurting Daniel, so if wasn't around anymore, then he should stop feeling its' effects. Too bad that didn't really work. Danny continued to scream in pain as he continued to feel the effects of the electrified liquid.

Vlad went to the hybrid's side and yelled in a worried tone, "Daniel! Cheese logs, why are you still being affected?"

He looked at Danny more closely and saw that there was actually a charge running through him as well as he had several wounds; all of which were severe and still bleeding out ectoplasm like no tomorrow. The charge he could get rid of, but the wounds were a different story. Vlad felt like he was having déjà vu of the time that Walker had put Daniel down to an inch of his life.

Vlad took a deep breath and placed his hand on top of the younger hybrid's chest, and he felt the charge and ectoplasm form around his gloved hand. He then began to pull the electricity out and within seconds, Danny was panting, his eyes slick with tears; still having that distant look in his eyes. Vlad fire the excess energy at a wall and looked at the boy before him.

He looked so fragile, so scared of what might happen next. Danny whimpered but made no other sound. Vlad cringed. This was not the boy he had come to know and care for. "Shh, it'll be alright my boy. I'm here. Just hold on a little longer little badger," Vlad said, his voice wavering. He wasn't sure if he was trying to sooth the teenager or himself.

Danny looked up at Vlad, and the older hybrid saw that his eyes were a dull, moss green instead of their usual bright emerald ones. Danny didn't know who was there, but the voice sounded reassuring and it had called him, "my boy." Vlad frowned at the boy's distant stare. These people would pay dearly for this. Danny opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. He tried again and Vlad heard him faintly say, "D-d-dad?"

Vlad stared at the boy like he was an alien. Was Daniel so out of it that he couldn't tell who was before him? Danny closed his eyes and Vlad's widened. "No, Daniel! You have to stay conscious, at least for a little while longer. It's not safe to do that here!" Vlad said.

Danny opened them again and tried to stay awake. He didn't know why, but the voice was right; now was not the time. Vlad sighed and said, "Hold on tight, Daniel. And whatever you do, don't close your eyes."

Vlad looked at the teenager and picked him up bridal style. He didn't want to hurt the boy in any way that could worsen his condition. Vlad glanced at the books and conjured up a duplicate. The duplicate grabbed all three books and teleported out of the building to wait for the real Vlad. Vlad looked at Danny and said, "Hold your breath, Daniel. You know what's going to happen."

In the next instant, Vlad had teleported out of the building and next to his duplicate. He looked back down at Danny and saw that he was gulping in air. He must have held his breath and was still having trouble breathing. Vlad sighed in reflief but gasped as he saw two white rings appear and spread apart. Danny couldn't stop them anymore and he reverted to his human half.

The result was almost instantaneous. Danny's wounds continued to bleed and his clothing started to have blood red spots appear all over. Vlad's eyes widened as he watched. Danny's eyes had closed and his breathing was shaky at best. Vlad cursed and shot towards Wisconsin. "Please, stay with me, little badger," he begged the unconscious teen as he zoomed through the air. He just hoped that Daniel didn't have a near-death experience like he had several months ago when he stayed with him.

* * *

**Phantom: OMG! Poor Danny. Having to withstand all that pain… but I think he just got something out of it.**

**Trainer: I have no idea what you're going on about, but what about Team Phantom? What happened to them?**

**Phantom: sorry, you'll have to wait. I know this seems to be a two part chapter but it's not! So please deal with it honourably.**

**Trainer: but I want to know.**

**Phantom: what's the magic word?**

**Trainer: NOW!**

**Phantom: um… no, no it's not. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter, I certainly did. But I want to tell you about something that's been happening for a while now; ever since I got back into DP. **

**I'm slightly more sleep deprived, get chills at the most inconvenient times, and acting very sarcastic. But at other times, I'm composed, serious, but also manipulative. And then recently I started thinking in rhymes for one reason or another. But I think that last one is because of my English class; we're doing a unit on poetry. Can you guys guess what's happened?**

**Trainer: yeah, you're acting like characters out of Danny Phantom! You've been Danny, Vlad and Ghost Writer. And I think we've joked about you acting like Clockwork once in a while.**

**Phantom: True. Oh god, I hope I don't start acting like my least fav. characters. Box Ghost, Klemper, Lunch Lady… please tell me I'm not acting like any of the ghost animals.**

**Trainer: no, you're good. But just keep it up; it makes your writing for the characters' better.**

**Phantom: thanks. So I hope you guys enjoyed and if you did, please, write a review! We love to hear from you guys. And to those of you who are constantly reviewing us, I say thank you on our behalf.**

**Trainer: see you guys later!**


	9. Chapter 9: Detectives and Guardians

**Phantom: hi everyone. Hope you've been waiting for this as much as I have.**

**Trainer: yeah, we finally get to see the next chapter!**

**Phantom: ok… well there is that. But I was talking about the month we're now in. that's right, it's my second favourite month; October! Why's that? Well, since I love the supernatural, am considered a black cat/bad luck person, and am slightly mysterious/creepy, I think it makes sense. Especially since I love Halloween and Friday the 13****th****.**

**Trainer: I love Halloween! Everyone gets out of their comfort zone and dresses up like crazy. And who doesn't love a good scare?**

**Phantom: not to mention Danny and his failed attempt to be scary instead of Fright Knight. Lame attempt, but awesome episode none-the-less.**

**Trainer: enough with the chit-chat! I want to read what happened to Danny!**

**Phantom: and the magic word is...? And don't you dare say 'now'.**

**Trainer: um… how about… 'BEWARE!' or 'eight strikes mr. October!' … hmm, oh… I know. 'Go twitches, go twitches, it's… our birthday.'**

**Phantom: ok, the first was the Box Ghost and the second was what Danny said to Fright Knight in that Halloween episode. And the last one, really? Twitches? You know I love all three but that last one had nothing to do with DP.**

**Trainer: well, did they work?**

**Phantom: *sigh* fine. On with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Detectives and Guardians**

* * *

Jazz, Sam, Tucker and TJ arrived back in the basement of the Fenton household within the Speeder. They had run into several less than pleased ghosts who chased them all over the Ghost Zone, and they had gotten lost in the process. They hadn't landed back home till the next day, and if they didn't find and bring Danny back from wherever he was, they would have to cover for him until they did.

Jazz internally groaned at the prospect. She wasn't a good liar; both she and Danny knew that. It was a miracle that her parents and the people of Amity Park hadn't caught on to them earlier. It wasn't her parents that she had to lie to though, it was Lancer. She had to lie to someone that she really respected and who had done nothing wrong to her. Jazz sighed, but knew that that was only a last resort for now.

Jazz turned off the engine and all the Speeder's occupants jumped out. Tucker was sad and had the leash on TJ. Said dog whined at not finding his master and friend waiting for them. Not a trace to pick up on. Jazz was stepping out of the vehicle and stared around the lab. Her eyes fell on Sam.

The Goth girl was walking up the stairs to the lab, her face hidden behind her raven coloured hair. It didn't take a genius thought to tell that Danny's disappearance was affecting her the most. The fact that her raven familiar had appeared at Skulker's island was proof enough. Like Danny, her powers were mainly activated through her emotions; and they were flowing from the distraught teen like an unstoppable river.

Sam was sad to learn that Danny hadn't been where they thought he was. She was angry that they had looked in the wrong place and wasted time that could have allowed them to save Danny sooner. She was confused as to why Skulker had actually decided to help them. But most of all, she was in pain. So much pain that it felt like she was dying, like the world was going to end, like she had failed a close friend.

Sam growled at her last thought and punched the nearest wall, leaving an indent in the shape of her clenched hand. She could feel like she was dying, she could scream that the world was going to end, but she would not… no, could not admit to any one that she had failed a close friend! She was determined to save Danny with everything she had. And no one was going to stop her.

She ran up the rest of the stairs, leaving the other two teens stunned. Tucker and Jazz exchanged a worried look before they raced after their friend. Who knew what she would do now that she was on a short fuse! TJ begrudgingly followed them, after being nearly choked by the sudden movement of his collar still attached to the leash.

As the group arrived on the main floor, they found Sam moving and opening things all over the kitchen. Tucker was the first to speak, "um, Sam? What… what are you doing?"

Sam stopped and looked up at the group. Her eyes were burning fiercely with her violet powers and the raven sitting on one of the chairs' tops. The same violent power erupting out of her eyes. Sam returned to she was doing and the raven accompanied her in the search.

Tucker was about to press for an answer again when she spoke up, "I'm not going to just wait for something to happen. Now is the time for action. And I'm looking for a pad of paper and a pen." She continued searching and then growled in frustration. "Jazz, how is it that your parents are geniuses and can rip open a portal into another dimension, but they don't even have the simplest of things lying around?"

Jazz sighed and started to help the Goth and raven search for the specified objects. Tucker, meanwhile, got dragged into the other room by TJ. The techno-geek tried to stop the dog but had no effect on the animal's movements. _"Man, I need to work out more,"_ Tucker thought as his boots slipped across the floor.

TJ stopped and looked at Tucker, who gave him an 'I'm not amused in the slightest' look. TJ patted his paw on the floor and seemed to give a half glare, half pleading look to the teen. Tucker's features softened and knelt down to the dog's level.

"What is it TJ? What's up?" Tucker asked. Just then he face-palmed. Was he really talking to a dog? A lick on the frame of his glass confirmed it. He looked up to see that TJ had managed to walk off and was currently looking out the window.

Tucker got up off the floor and walked over to his best friend's pet. He started petting the animal, who leaned into the affection happily. Suddenly, TJ jerked his head away and was staring out the window again.

Tucker raised an eyebrow and thought, _"what's he looking at? If it's a squirrel, I'm going to need to tell Danny that his dog wasn't as smart as we thought he was."_

Tucker sighed, but followed TJ's eyes until he was looking in the same direction. At first he didn't see anything, but then he thought he saw something in the distance. Wasn't that in the direction of the Guys in White facility? Wait a minute… was that… smoke?!

Tucker looked scared for a moment until he saw the all too familiar news van drive by the window in the same direction of the ghost hunting building. Now he was frantic and about to wet himself. Tucker looked between the window and the kitchen before he made a dash for the room the girls were in, TJ hot on his heels.

Tucker skidded to a stop. Sam and Jazz looked up from their search to see their friend completely distraught. TJ was running in circles in a similar manner.

Jazz closed the drawer she had opened and turned to face Tucker. Her eyebrows creased as she asked, "what's wrong, Tucker? Not to sound cliché, but you look like you've seen a ghost."

Tucker stared at the red-head before he started sputtering, "TJ – Guys in White – window – smoke- TV crew- DANNY!"

*slap*

Tucker stood there shocked before he shook his head to see that Sam had just slapped him. He blinked once, twice and then said, "OW!"

Jazz sighed at her brother's friends and joined the duo. She looked down to see that TJ had stopped running around and was watching what she would do next. Finally, Jazz said, "Tucker, calm down. We can't understand you. You're not making any sense." She finished by throwing her arms into the air.

"Not to mention, all you're jumbled thoughts were giving me a headache. I had to block you to stop the onslaught," Sam added, the raven flying to her shoulder.

Tucker glance between the two girls. He took a deep breath and quickly stated, "Ok, so while you two were looking for a pad of paper and a pen, which by the way I still don't know why you were looking for them, but any ways –"

"TUCKER," the two girls yelled. Tucker stopped talking and stared at them.

Jazz sighed again and said, "Tucker, speak slower. This is just as bad as you stammering."

Tucker nodded and tried to calm down. After a few deep breaths, he tried again, "while you two were looking for those objects Sam was looking for, TJ dragged me into the living room. At first, I thought he just wanted to move around, but then he started pawing the ground and giving me a puppy dog look. His leash got loose from my hand and he ran over to the window. I got curious and looked out the window too, only to see…" Tucker's eye's widened with fear and then he clenched them shut in an attempt to hold his growing fears down long enough to tell the girls what he saw.

Sam put a hand on Tucker's shoulder and said, "See _what_ Tucker?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Tucker gulped and squeaked, "First, I looked to where TJ was looking to see it was the direction of the GiW facility. Then I noticed something coming off from that way, a-a-and it was s-sm-smoke! I saw smoke coming from the GiW facility!" he was waving his arms in the air by now.

Jazz covered her mouth as she gasped while Sam looked like a deer in the headlights, or how a person would act if all the air in their lungs were suddenly gone. Tucker then added on, "and then, I saw the news van drive by! Something bad is happening guys. And I'm afraid Danny might have been at the centre of it!" Tucker looked like he was about crumble to the floor.

At the mention of the news van, Sam seemed to come out of her shock. She stared at Tucker, and then Jazz. Sam's eyes narrowed with determination as she stomped towards the living room. The action brought both Jazz and Tucker back as they followed after the girl.

"Sam?" Jazz asked, "What are you doing?" she was soon answered when Sam grabbed the TV remote off the couch, sat down and turned on the television.

"Dude, I don't think now is a good time to relax in front of the TV," Tucker said, moving to sit next to his friend.

Jazz followed Tucker and the two sat with Sam as she shifted and changed the channel. "I'm not relaxing Tucker, I'm trying to find clues," Sam said.

Jazz seemed to catch on when she said, "The news van! It's going to go find out what happened at the facility!" Sam didn't answer verbally, she just nodded. TJ finally walked in the room and lay down at Jazz's feet, an unhappy whine escaping into the room.

Sam stopped on the news and waited. Almost instantly, an image of a woman with orange hair and a pink suit came into view. Tiffany Snow appeared and the woman started speaking, _"This is Tiffany Snow, of your Amity Park news. We're sorry to interrupt your programs, but there seems to be something wrong at the Guys in White facility. Something or someone has destroyed and rampaged throughout the facility. Lance Thunder is down at the scene. Lance?"_

The image then switched to a blond man in a blue suit who was fussing over his hair as he complained, _"I'm a weather man! How on earth did I get stuck reporting about gho – oh! Um… Lance here and thank you Tiffany. As you can see, behind me is Amity Park's own Guys in White facility. It appears that something has gotten into the building and destroyed it from the inside out. There are no break-in points, and the only sign from the outside of any damage is the smoke coming out of the windows on the second floor._

The camera moved to show the building's second story and the smoke being emitted out the windows. Then it returned to the reporter. _"We've only just gotten here, but some of the operatives are willing to reveal some of what has happened here. Here with me is…"_ Lance said, not really knowing what to call the man.

"_K, Operative K,"_ the man dressed in white said.

"_Alright," _Lance nodded and tried to supply a smile. _"What can you tell us about what happened here? Was it a ghost?"_

Operative K looked at the weather man with a stern face, almost like he had tasted something bad but didn't want to offend the cook. The operative cleared his throat and said, _"It was a ghost. We had recently captured him and began running several tests."_

Lance's eyes widened with the prospect of diving deeper into the topic. _"Really! Which ghost was it? Was it one that has terrorised our town before? What happened?"_

Operative K scowled but replied, _"I can't reveal who the ghost was. That is something that Agent C would have to answer. All I can tell you is that it was a ghost that __**we**__ believe has terrorised Amity Park before. As for what happened, again, only Agent C could tell you that."_

Lance wasn't discouraged when he wasn't given answers. In fact, he was thrilled to find out more. _"Well, if Agent C is the one we need to talk to, where is he?"_

The operative froze for a moment, but then returned to his original composure. He straightened his tie and said, _"Agent C went through… the most during these recent events. He had been closest to the ghost when… things got rough. I can't disclose what –"_

"_BUT I CAN!"_ a voice off screen shouted.

A man appeared on screen, he wore a white suit like all of the GiW but his suit was slightly singed, messy, torn and covered in green splotches that Team Phantom hated to think was actually Danny's ectoplasm.

Lance turned to the man and said, _"And you would be…"_

"_Chrome,"_ the man replied, shoving the operative out of the way. _"Agent C, if you prefer."_

Lance's eyes widened and chuckled nervously. _"So, would you be able to tell us what happened here exactly? I mean, like who the ghost was? What happened to your facility?"_

Agent C seemed to scowl, but it was so brief that no one could say that it had really happened. _"We'd rather keep the identity of the ghost to ourselves, but as for what happened, I'd be honoured to reveal that,"_ the evil man said. _"Like Operative K said, we did some tests. Simple things like abilities and powers, DNA, etc. It was when we moved onto the final test that things took a turn for the worse. Something went wrong and everything began exploding."_

"_Really, and then what happened?"_ Lance asked.

"_All hell broke loose, that's what,"_ the agent growled. _"The door to the room was the first to go; the stupid demon was screaming his head off like no tomorrow. Then these balls of energy would appear out of nowhere and explode against the walls. I'm surprised that things didn't just go up in flames."_

Lance nodded in understanding. He then said, _"And what happened to the ghost?"_

Agent C growled and practically spat, _"He got away, but not on his own. Another ghost came into the room and demanded what was going on. When I told him, he yelled to shut down the machine we we're using. I moved to do so, but then one of those energy balls exploded between me and the machine and sent me flying into the far wall. I didn't see anything after that. All I know is that both ghosts were gone by the time I came to and before anyone else came into the room."_

"_Wow!"_ Lance said. This was huge! _"Well, good luck to you and your men. Back to you, Tiffany."_

Sam turned off the TV, all three teens were shocked. What did one do when the one you were looking for, was now even missing from his captors? Tucker was the first to find his voice, "Um, guys?" All the girls looked at him, worry written all over their faces. "What do we do now? Danny isn't at the GiW facility, and we don't –"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Sam screamed.

"Know where he is!" Tucker finished. He was close to tears and braking down. This was just too familiar. Danny going missing, them not being able to track him; no matter what they used, not being able to do anything! He didn't want history to repeat itself.

Sam ran out of the room, her raven hot on her heals. Jazz, Tucker and TJ cringed when they heard a door slam upstairs. They weren't going to bother her right now. Honestly, they could all use some time to think.

Jazz sighed and looked at Tucker. His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears and his breath was stuck in his throat. She didn't know what to do, and from the way everyone else was acting, neither did they.

"Tucker," Jazz said her voice just barely above a whisper. Tucker looked at the red-head, hoping that she had something useful. "I don't know what to do. Sam is upstairs, probably crying. Skulker won't tell us anything more than we already know. And we have no leads as to Danny's whereabouts!" She dropped her head into her hands in defeat.

Tucker frowned at the older teen. "Jazz," the techno-geek said. Jazz refused to lift her head, but gave a muffled sound. Tucker took it as an opportunity to talk. "We have to keep trying. Danny's out there somewhere. Sam and I still have our connection to Danny, and… we have the Boo-marang if it can catch his ecto-signature. There has to be something we haven't found yet."

Jazz lifted her head and gave him a small smile; although, it was kind of forced. "Thanks Tucker," she said. "I don't think anything can really help right now, not even what they found at the GiW facility seems to help."

"Wait!" Tucker pulled out his PDA and re-watched the new cast. He then paused and said, "Watch this part."

He handed the PDA to Jazz and she frowned. What could Tucker possibly find from the news report they just saw? As she watched, a small smile came to her face. It was the part with Agent C revealing what he knew had happened to Danny.

"Tucker, you're a genius!" Jazz said enthusiastically and hugged the technology obsessed teen. "He practically gave us the answer we've been looking for! Danny disappeared after a different ghost appeared and _SAVED_ him. How many ghosts do we know that could either know that Danny was in trouble, and could save him?!"

Tucker blushed by the act of affection, but shoved the embarrassment down as he pushed away from the over-excited teen. "I know, I know, you're excited. Come on. We need Sam for this."

The two teens got up and ran for the stairs. TJ stayed downstairs though, pawing at a little metallic bug he found.

Jazz and Tucker arrived upstairs and started looking for Sam. It didn't take long; they found her in Danny's room holding one of his rocket models like it was her only connection to her friend. Jazz moved over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sam nearly jumped out of her skin but looked up to see concerned eyes lock with hers.

"Sam," Jazz started, "We think we're onto something, but we need your help."

Sam brightened at the prospect of being able to find Danny and wiped her eyes. "Where do we begin?" she asked, a determined glint returning to her eyes.

"We found something that we all over-looked from the news report," Tucker jumped in. "That Chrome guy said that another ghost came and helped Danny. Also that it was a male ghost. We just need to figure out which of the ghosts we know would have known about Danny being in trouble, and who could have helped him without setting off any alarms, traps and could get in and out without blowing a huge hole through the wall."

"Wow Tucker. You really know how to knock someone down huh?" Sam replied. "The GiW facility has a ghost shield, only those with the ability to create portals or teleport could get in."

"Well, at least that really narrows our list down. Most ghosts can't teleport or create a portal. That's why most come through our portal or Vlad's," Jazz stated, happy that they were getting somewhere.

"Ok, so who can do either of those things?" Sam asked, finally finding some paper and a pen. Leave it to Danny to save their necks, even when they were trying to save his.

Tucker tapped his chin in thought and said, "Well, there's Wulf, Clockwork and…"

"Vlad," Jazz hissed. She hated that guy. Even to say his name was like drinking venom.

Sam wrote down the names and said, "Well, all three are able to find Danny easily enough, but who would have known about Danny being trapped?"

"Might as well cross Wulf off. It's hard enough to find him on a good day. He usually stays in the Ghost Zone and hides from Walker. There's no way he would have known," Tucker said.

"That leaves Clockwork and Vlad," Sam said.

"Well," Jazz started, "Clockwork is really good to my brother, and he can come into the timeline almost anywhere he wants. He could have done it."

Sam shook her head. "Yeah, I know. But Danny once told us that Clockwork doesn't mess with the timeline unless it helps the timeline move smoothly or to prevent something from happening to Danny; since he is like his ghostly guardian or something. Plus, even if that were the case, Clockwork doesn't do such rash moves. If someone else was going to help Danny, he would have let it happen."

"But then that just leaves," Jazz shuddered at her next thought, "Vlad. Why would he help? What would he have to gain from it?"

"I don't think it's what he would gain, but what he could have lost, Jazz," Tucker said. When the two girls stared at him and he supplied, "When Danny went missing the first time, we found out that Vlad had been treating him pretty well, despite the pain Danny must have felt in the process. Vlad has never really wanted to harm Danny to the point of death."

"True, but how can we be sure that Danny's with Vlad now?" Sam asked. Her answer came when TJ burst into the room with something in his mouth.

Jazz saw that it was something metallic and rushed over to the pooch. If it was another of her parents' inventions, she and Danny would be in so much trouble. "Drop it," she commanded. TJ reluctantly dropped his new 'toy', only to reveal that it was one of Vlad's spy bugs. "Guys, not to jump to conclusions, but I think it _was_ Vlad."

Sam and Tucker nodded. "Just in case, let's see what we can get out of this little guy," Tucker said as he grabbed the metal bug from Jazz and got to work.

* * *

Vlad was racing home, Danny still unconscious and bordering a very dangerous line. His wounds weren't healing like they should and that only left two reasons; either he was so drained that he was healing like a human rather than a hybrid, or his ghost core had fallen to a lot of damage. As a result, he was still bleeding at an alarming rate.

Vlad would have teleported them a long time ago, but with the boy in this critical condition, he opted to not do it. Danny wouldn't know, first of all, that he would need to hold whatever breath he could. And the billionaire figured that he couldn't hold very much. Then there was the fact that performing teleportation could further harm him in the physical sense. It was too risky, and Vlad was not about to lose the boy that easily.

Vlad looked back down at Daniel's still form worriedly. Now that he could see, more or less, the damage the boy had received, he wasn't too pleased. His wound varied from deep to shallow cuts, all of which weren't healing and still bleeding. Some of the blood was dried and caked through his hair and clothes. Vlad made a note to get rid of the boy's clothes after he made sure that Daniel was out of mortal danger.

He had several large burns across his body, all of which were standard first degree burns, thank god. They would need aloe and bandages. And Vlad wasn't sure, but he thought that Danny had broken some ribs. Besides the blood loss, it would explain why Daniel's breathing was raspy and somewhat strained. Furthermore, Daniel's skin tone was grayer, and Vlad didn't like the looks of it.

Plasmius sighed and looked up to his surroundings. They were getting close to his castle and then he could really help the boy. That is, if no one tries to further harm the child before then.

All of a sudden, Vlad felt something familiar returning to him. Was that… his energy? No, that's impossible. The only energy he was using was in his… his duplicate! Vlad looked over to his copy and saw that he was fading in and out of existence, a pink trail of energy leaving before returning to Vlad.

Vlad and his duplicate stopped. Vlad took in the scene again before creating another duplicate. The first copy handed the books over to the second, and Vlad saw that the first duplicate wouldn't hold out much longer. He absorbed the first and looked at the second.

"_What on earth happened to my duplicate that he would start to become energy again?"_ Vlad wondered. His answer came when he caught sight of one of the books, more specifically, the bottom book.

It was the book that had been reacting to Daniel back at the facility. Its glow was pulsing and seemed to be harming his duplicate, or at least it was draining his energy away and returning it to the source. The duplicate knew what its original was thinking and quickly swapped the bottom book with the only red-gemmed book; the one Vlad had once dreamt about. Immediately, the duplicate's energy returned and everything was fine.

Now Vlad was curious. As he and the duplicate continued their flight, he mused. He recalled that the information he read said that each book had special attributes to them and that only a specific ghost could touch them. The green ones gave some a freezing chill, while the red one would give someone a hot or electric shock. But they weren't doing that to him. Neither kind of the books did. The red did nothing to him and the green just returned his energy to him.

He would have to look into this. Perhaps the books themselves could help. Maybe something written inside could shed some light on the matter.

But first things first; Daniel needed help recovering. As the castle came into view, Vlad and his duplicate sped up and arrived within a few minutes.

Vlad didn't waste any time. He phased through the building until he came to a certain room. The room was currently dark, but there were glowing stars on the ceiling and several glowing DP symbols about the room. Vlad brought the wounded teen to the bed and laid him down. He then took the books from the duplicate and put them on the side table next to the bed. He then absorbed his duplicate. It was already bright out, so Vlad assumed that it was the morning of the next day.

He turned on the lights to reveal that the room was a beautiful blue; the same blue that was used in Danny's room in Amity Park. Vlad sighed. This was Daniel's room at one point in life, and he hadn't stepped foot in it since the boy's betrayal. But that didn't matter right now. Daniel needed him more than ever.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Vlad jumped slightly but tried to compose himself before answering. It didn't work. "Come in," he said, his voice lased with concern and growing anxiety.

Several beings, all of them ghosts, entered the room. It was Vlad's working staff for the mansion. Apparently, his sudden arrival by phasing through the walls to this room got everyone's attention. George had been the first to enter. The chef was slightly worried when his employer had zoomed past the kitchen without as much as a glance. The fact that Vlad hadn't even eaten lunch, let alone dinner, yesterday told the pudgy ghost that something was wrong.

George floated in and asked, "Master Plasmius, what's-"but he stopped short when he saw who was on the bed and what kind of shape they were in. "oh my! What in the Ghost Zone happened to the young halfa?!"

At the mention of the younger half-ghost, the rest of the staff poured into the room. Each wore a different expression.

Martha and Patricia had long since stopped a petty argument about where Maddie the cat was and whether she needed a bath. Both looked like they were about to break down crying at the sight of the young boy. Also, they hated the fact that the clean sheets were now ruined… again. But they figured that could wait.

Carl, who had been trying to show Derek the new car Vlad had bought, had dropped his cellphone. The picture of the new and shiny vehicle still on the screen, but even that wouldn't be able to lift his spirits now. He stared at Danny's still form and couldn't tear his eyes from the sight. This was the kid who he had spent hours talking to about cars when no one else would for Pete's sake! He hated to see him like this.

Bennie and Jasper had their mouths hanging open; any thoughts running through their heads had instantly stopped. They didn't know how to react. Danny had been such a sweet and innocent kid. Who would do this to him?

Derek was in the background, ready to make a dash for the medical kit or call 911 if necessary. He was the quiet nervous ghost of the house! He didn't deal with things like this on a usual basis!

Finally, Niane was the last to enter, her features staying unchanged from its usual seriousness. She exchanged a look to George who returned it right away. They had been the only two to see Danny the first time he had come back in a similar state, but that didn't make it any easier.

No one even question as to why Danny was back. Under normal circumstances, they would have all been thrilled to see the younger hybrid. But right now, they didn't care. Danny looked like he was close to joining the Ghost Zone **permanently**, and they were going to do all in their power to prevent it.

Vlad looked over the group and sighed. He knew that they deserved an explanation; but even he couldn't supply everything. Daniel would need to clear some things up for all of them. Vlad cleared his throat and said, "An explanation can wait. I need everyone's help in order to save Daniel."

Vlad turned back to Danny and without looking at the ghosts he started barking out orders. "Derek! Get the first aid kit. Benny! Jasper! Go to the greenhouse and get any medical plants and supplies, then return here."

Said ghosts ran off without a word to perform their duties. Vlad turned his hand intangible and began pulling off the boy's clothes until only his underwear was left. They were the same red boxers with white spots that Vlad had seen last time.

He tossed the clothes behind him, which Martha and Patricia dutifully caught before they stared back at their employer. Vlad didn't even spare them a glance when he said, "dispose of those. They're beyond repair or salvation."

Vlad looked over the damage now that he had a clear view. It was worse than he thought. The wounds on the area his clothes were covering were at least half an inch deep and would need several stitches. How he gained such severe wounds was beyond the older hybrid.

As Martha and Patricia left with the torn and blood soaked clothes, only Carl, Niane and George remained. "Carl!" Vlad commanded, but at the same time startling the shock-ridden driver. "Please go and call the office and tell them that I will **not** be coming in for the next few days. If they ask why tell them that something important has come up." Carl ran out of the room to make the calls, only to come back in and grab his cell off the floor. He then ran out again to make the calls.

Niane and George glanced at each other before they went to their own duties. They didn't need to be told what to do; they saw this last time and had done everything they could do to help. While George flew off and got a bucket, Niane went to the bathroom and ran some hot water.

The two returned to Vlad's side with the bucket full with warm water and a cloth. At the same time, Derek had arrived with the first aid kit and Benny and Jasper had re-entered the room with arms full of ghostly plants.

Vlad brought a chair over to the bed side and returned to his human form. In all the excitement, he hadn't changed back. Now human, Vlad took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. It was time to get to work.

* * *

It had taken almost all day, but the end result was hopefully worth it. The bucket of warm water was now dyed a bloody red. Same went for the cloth that Vlad had used to clean the younger hybrid's wounds. He had bandaged every cut, scratch and burn as well as applied both ghostly and human medicines to the wounds.

Danny had bandages wrapped around his head, both legs, both arms and all over his chest. He also had a patch on his cheek and one over his heart/core where the GiW agent had stabbed him several times. With all the bandages, Daniel looked like a mummy.

From what the older hybrid could tell Daniel's core was fine if not just in temporary shock. It was totally drained of energy and would be a while before his body would heal at its usual pace. In the meantime, Vlad and everyone in his castle would just have to keep an eye on him.

Vlad sighed in relief. Daniel was out of the danger zone for now. At least that got rid of one problem. George and Niane left the room and went back to their duties; but Niane gave one more glance at the unconscious teen. She would need to talk to the teen when he was well; and alone. As the door closed, Vlad was finally left alone with the boy. There were so many things to think about now. What would he do with the child once he was well again? What about Daniel's sister and friends? Would they barge in, guns a blazing, without asking any questions? Or would they be willing to hear him out first? What about the boy's life in Amity Park? He would need an excuse for why he wasn't at home or even in school for that matter. Then there were the books. So many things he wanted to know about those books.

So many things to take care of, and it felt like he would have no time to do them. Vlad remained in his seat next to his young rival as he looked at his watch. It was 6:00 pm his clock read. George would want him to eat something today and skipping five meals in a row wasn't going to please the ghost chef.

Vlad looked back at Danny and then to the books on the nightstand next to him. Now was as good a time as any to tell Skulker that he had retrieved the books. Vlad moved to contact the hunter via his watch communicator but then stopped himself.

If he told Skulker that he had the books, then he would come and try to retrieve them. True, Skulker had said that if they had been found anywhere in the human world that he would be allowed to keep one of them, but he wanted to see what the books were capable of. Individually and together; he wanted to know everything about these books.

Vlad reached over to grab the top book but stopped. He had never actually touched them himself. Would he get the same result as his duplicate when he touched the green books? Or would it do what the reports said and give him a nasty chill? When his duplicate touched the red gemmed book, it had been fine.

Vlad narrowed his eyes at the books. They had an internal defense system against ghosts and other beings so that not just anybody could touch them. But he was able to. Why?

The billionaire made up his mind and grabbed the larger of the two green gemmed books. Its glow was softer than and not as brilliant as when he had first seen it back at the GiW facility. It was like it was reacting to how… to how Daniel was physically!

When the older hybrid touched the book, he did feel a slight chill run through him, but it was a familiar chill. It was a welcomed chill that he felt whenever he was near Daniel. The book at first repelled his touch, but then, in some way that Vlad could tell, it embraced it and welcomed him.

"How odd," Vlad said as he stood. The centre gem glowed a little brighter and Vlad gave a ghost of a smile before moving to the door. He gave one last glance to the sleeping boy before he closed the door behind him and headed for the dining room. He had no doubt that George would have made him dinner and that it was waiting for him there.

As he came into the room, he smelled the sweet aroma of his meal waiting at his chair at the long table. As he sat down, he was greeted by a soft meow and something brushing up against his leg. Vlad looked down and gave a soft, but somewhat forced, smile. "Hello, Maddie. What are you doing here?" Vlad asked. He looked at his dinner and chuckled. "Ah, that's what you want."

His meal was sushi, so of course Maddie wanted some too. Vlad tossed her a piece which she happily caught and started to eat. Vlad chuckled again. "Well at least one of us has an appetite tonight," Vlad mused.

He really only ate half of the meal while the cat ate the other half. Vlad's mind was swimming in a sea of thoughts and questions. Not one he could answer when it concerned the young hybrid upstairs and what happened or what will happen to him. But this book. This book, as well as the other books was something that he could work on in the meantime.

He sat at the table and looked at the book with more intrigue than ever before. He continued to sit there, even after Derek came and went with the empty plate and utensils.

The book was even more beautiful in person. The giant green gem in the centre glowed neon green and seemed to pulse as it came close to his touch. Heck, it was doing a similar thing when it was only inches from Daniel's head throughout the whole day.

There were twelve smaller, thinner gems circling the main gem in the pattern that made the overall image look like a sun. They weren't as bright as the centre gem; more of a dull, moss green. Vlad wondered why that was, but he had plenty of time to figure it out.

Vlad traced the cover and felt each individual gem. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt four small, pearl-like bumps near each of the corners of the cover. He squinted and found that those bumps had indeed been pearls that were glowing faintly. He presumed that something was keeping the book from being at full power; otherwise all the gems and the books glow would be much brighter. All the green gems would look like emeralds and what he thought was pearls would most likely be a beautiful white.

Then there was the rest of the book. Yes, the books glow didn't look healthy or strong, but there must be something that was causing it; and he would be the one to find out. The rest of the relic was just as stunning as the gems. It was overall a raven black that accompanied the cool touch perfectly. Each gem was encircled by a gold trim. The edges had a similar trim, but it was thicker and more defined. Finally, there were glowing letters on the binding.

Vlad turned the book so he could better see the binding and the letter glowing off of it. The letters glowed an off-white that was tinged a slight green, complimenting the rest of the book very well. Vlad scowled at the words. It looked like that language that was from the cave drawing back in the _Far Frozen_ that he now had a copy of. The writing on the side read _"Duono libro: Frostigi. Fantomo"[1]_. Vlad had no clue as to what it even meant. The older hybrid leaned back in his chair and sighed as he rubbed his temples. Just another problem on a growing list.

Vlad chanced a glance at the nearby clock. It read 9:00 pm. It was definitely time for some rest. Vlad got up and grabbed the ghostly relic before heading to his room. He climbed the stairs and looked down the hall towards his room but stopped. He looked in the opposite direction towards his new temporary guest. The billionaire made up his mind and headed for the young hybrid's room. He would see if anything needed to be changed before going to bed himself.

Opening the door slowly, he peaked inside and found that Daniel was still out. Vlad shook his head. What was he expecting? For Daniel to be fine and be demanding where he was and what had happened and then somehow blame it on the older hybrid?

Vlad walked into the room and looked down at the sleeping boy. All his bandages looked fine; not so worn that they would need to be changed yet. He moved his gaze from head to toe and back. Nothing looked like it had to be taken care of yet, but the state that Daniel was in was nerve racking.

Daniel looked so peaceful just lying there. Like there was **nothing** wrong, like he **hadn't** just gotten beaten within an inch of his life… again. Like his life could just continue the way it was.

Vlad sighed. No, life could never be normal for them. They were unique yes, but at the same time they were alone. Three hybrids existed in all existence, and they could have all gotten along if they weren't on such different paths.

Vlad decided to leave the boy to his peace for now. They both needed their rest. Vlad turned to leave, but stopped when he felt a slight pulse of energy in his hand.

He looked down and saw that the book he was carrying was glowing a little brighter. _"Well this is new,"_ Vlad thought. The relic looked like it was, renewing itself. The gems were still quite dim in colouring, but he could now tell what they were. The centre gem was still bright neon, emerald green. The smaller green gems weren't so much as a moss colour but rather a cool forest green. And the pearls that had been almost unrecognizable as little blackish balls were now a grayish white at least. Even the glow seemed to have gotten stronger.

Vlad raised an eyebrow as he contemplated what was happening. He had assumed that the books were somehow connected to the hybrids themselves, but didn't know in what way. His dream about the red gemmed book, the four books representing four hybrids; even though he only knew of three, and the mysterious ghost that had wanted them so badly. Nothing was adding up.

Vlad's face then lit up with an idea. He had dreamt of the book with a red gem, the _only_ book that he knew of that had this coloured gem. It couldn't be a coincidence that he could use that colour energy while both Daniel and Danielle could not. Vlad had thought that the book was _meant_ for him and would do almost anything to keep it… that is until he woke up from his dream. But the urge to have it still remained.

But what if it was a similar case with the other books? What if they were meant for Daniel and Danielle? They were hybrids too and they preferred to use green energy like the gems that were in the other books.

With that thought, Vlad brought the book in his grasp closer to the younger hybrid's form. The result was almost instant. The book grew brighter and more alive with every passing second that it was in range of Daniel. The gems and the glow of the book grew brighter and healthier.

The opposite effect happened when he drew the book back. Everything about it seemed to dim, as if it had become sad in the way only ghostly objects could. Vlad gave a slight smile. He was learning more about these books within the few hours that he had had them than anyone in the Ghost Zone had.

These books had an internal defence system that made it almost impossible for just any ghost to hold them.

They belonged to the hybrids and wouldn't harm any of them; whether the book was theirs or not.

They reacted strongly when near their corresponding being; just like how this book did to Daniel. This book was Daniel's!

There was a fourth book and hybrid out there that he didn't know about.

Vlad then realised he had done everything that was simple with this book, except for open it up and read what was inside. He would have done what Danny called a face-palm if he wasn't already doing so mentally.

Vlad grabbed the cover and made to open the book; only to find that he couldn't. Vlad frowned. Why couldn't he open it? Vlad was about to blast the book, his pink energy filling his hand, when the book reacted and opened on its' own. Vlad looked at his glowing hand and where it was on the cover. It was on the centre gem.

Vlad smiled. He could add 'secret ecto-lock/key' to that list. He opened the book, only to frown again. The pages were blank! There was nothing on them! Vlad yawned un-expectantly. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 10:00 pm. Where had the time gone?

Vlad put the book he was holding back with the rest; next to Daniel and on the bedside table. He turned and left, shutting the door behind him. It was time for bed, and then tomorrow, he could worry about the books and Daniel.

Vlad returned to his room and readied himself for bed. As he climbed into bed and turned off the light, he let go of his thoughts as he tumbled into an uneventful sleep with no dreams, no thoughts, just blackness until morning.

* * *

"_Derek! Get the first aid kit. Benny! Jasper! Go to the greenhouse and get any medical plants and supplies, then return here."_

*Click… click*

"_Dispose of those. They're beyond repair or salvation."_

*Click…click*

"_Carl! Please go and call the office and tell them that I will not be coming in for the next few days. If they ask why tell them that something important has come up."_

*Click*

Clockwork raised his staff and clicked the timepiece again and his viewing orb became a black screen again. The glow encompassing his staff disappearing and returning to its natural hue.

Clockwork wouldn't admit it out loud, but Daniel Fenton was possibly one of the luckiest boys in the world and Ghost Zone. He had a loving family, the best of friends, and plenty of powerful allies that would help him in his time of need.

Sure, there was himself, Frostbite and even Pandora, but none compared to Vlad Masters/ Plasmius. The two didn't get along for obvious reasons; they were like polar opposites. But the two of them together were the ultimate team. They could face anything together and would put aside all their differences to help the other.

He had seen this many times, but now he had to test them once again. The time master frowned. He did **not** enjoy having to test them, let alone his protégé, but it had to be done at times.

He chose the best path for the timeline, but that didn't mean it was always the easiest choice. He chuckled at that thought. Hadn't he been telling that to Danny through their many encounters?

Putting Danny through this bump with the Guys in White would strengthen the bond between the two hybrids and possibly with Jasmine Fenton as well. They needed this more than they realised for what may come up in the future; this needed to happen.

Clockwork looked down at his wrist, looking at one of the many watches he wore. He counted down the ticks from five… four… three… two…

*Bam!*

Clockwork sighed and turned to his '_guests_'. Juĝisto and Konsilisto entered the room; their one eyes bulging and filled with rage.

"Clockwork!" Juĝisto started, "what have you done?"

Clockwork fiddled with his time piece and didn't even spare his _'employers'_ a glance. Instead, his replied in his even and monotonous voice, "such a simple question with many answers. You may want to be more specific."

Juĝisto's eye narrowed. "Don't use your mind games on us time master. We've seen what's happened in the human world."

"Yes," Konsilisto added, "you have let Danny Phantom fall back into the timeline where his future evil self awaits! Why?"

Clockwork lifted his gaze for a second and then resumed playing with his time piece. "Once again, you have given a vague question. If you mean 'why have a left Danny in a somewhat similar situation like a few months ago?' then I would have to say that it doesn't concern you." Clockwork said; _"at least not yet,"_ he added mentally.

Both of the Observants narrowed their eyes to slits. Why was Clockwork hiding things from them? What was he hiding from them?

Clockwork gave an audible sigh and lifted his head to look at his employers in the eye. "If you need something to satisfy your curiosity then I will inform you. This is a form of a 'test' for both hybrids as well as Daniel's sister," he half lied. True, it was a 'test' in a way, but it wasn't really all that intentional.

"The three need to work together better for the timeline's and their own sake. But that is all I am will to tell you. The timeline is my first priority and Daniel is my second, and I do not need to explain my actions involving either to you or the rest of the Observants," Clockwork stated with a finality that was scary. There was no arguing with the master of time on this one.

Juĝisto and Konsilisto glared but understood and would not press the topic. Finally, both responded, "We leave it to you Clockwork, BUT DON'T LET THAT TIMELINE HAPPEN; AT ALL COSTS!"

"You have my word," Clockwork said, a smirk crawling across his features. This, of course, the two Observants didn't see since they were already leaving.

Clockwork heard the door close behind and he smiled softly. He loved messing with his so-called 'employers'. He knew that the situation was serious, but he couldn't help it. He knew what would happen next; he wasn't worried, at least not until the events that happened later on in the time stream. If Danny was there, he would have done the same if not more to annoy the Observants.

The only other person that loved messing with his employers as much as he or Daniel did was –

"Clockwork!"

Clockwork sighed but turned to the source of the sound. A young girl, about Daniel's age, floated into the room. She wore a red cloak with a hood and a white dress that covered her all the way to the floor. Her hair was brown, her eyes the same icy blue as Vlad's, and her skin a light skin tone.

She wasn't even trying to hide her worry. Clockwork glanced at her and was about to try and calm her down, but didn't get the chance. "Clockwork! What happened to Danny? Why is he hurt? How did Vlad find out about it? What's going on?" Niane exploded.

Clockwork put a hand on the distressed spirit's shoulder and she immediately stopped and looked up to see his face; her own covered in tears. "Calm yourself Viviane," Clockwork said.

Niane pouted and said, "It's Niane now. But Clockwork, what happened?"

Clockwork nodded and said, "In order; Danny unfortunately was captured by the GiW yesterday when he saved Skulker and was tortured by them. Vladimir found out by Skulker and went to save the boy. So now Vlad is trying to save Danny's life."

Niane nodded, but then said, "But why? Why did this happen? No, why did this _need _to happen?"

Clockwork looked off into the distance for a moment, as if he was contemplating what to say and how to say it. "In the timeline I have seen, Daniel and Vladimir need to and will put aside their differences in order to save everyone. This is one of those times that the two need to see eye to eye and get along so that they can retrieve this bond later on. I'd rather it didn't have to be this way, but it was the best option."

Niane nodded again, knowing that Clockwork only did things if he had a good reason to do so. So she didn't argue. "What should I do Clockwork?" Naine asked.

Clockwork smiled softly and said, "Keep an eye on those two. And be nice to your guests in a few days. You scared them off last time." He chuckled softly and moved towards his viewing orb. He waved his staff over the device and an image of the near future appeared. It was of Danny's sister and friends and Vlad all hovering around the tired looking Danny, who was still bed ridden.

Naine floated behind the time master and smiled at the image. If only things could always be like that. "Alright Clockwork, I trust you," the youngest ghost maid replied. "I better get back there, before Vlad notices that I'm missing." She quickly resumed her ghostly image; a young ghost maid with brown hair, red eyes, and blue skin. And with that, she flew out of the room and back to Vlad's Wisconsin portal.

Clockwork watched as the viewing orb faded to black once again before he let a small smile return to his face. That was abruptly removed when he heard the all too familiar clanging of the thermos in the back of his tower.

Clockwork moved through the halls until he reached the room that held the Fenton Thermos. It was wobbling all over the table as its occupant tried to escape.

"Let me out of here Clockwork!" an enraged and muffled yet enticing voice said from within the metal container.

Clockwork lifted the thermos and promptly shook it about; earning a growl from the ghost inside.

"No, Dan, I don't think I will. Not yet at least," the time master replied evenly.

The container stopped shaking as Dan took in what Clockwork had said. Then Dan said, "What are you tal-dahh!"

Clockwork started shaking the container again and said happily, "Ah, ah, ah. That's for me to know."

"D-d-damn y-y-you C-c-clockwork!" Dan yelled from within the thermos. "A-a-and d-d-damn t-th-this s-st-stupid T-TH-THERMOS!"

* * *

**Translation**

**Phantom: If you guys want to know what this means, it may spoil the surprise later on so don't read it. But if you don't care, here it is.**

[1] _Halfa Book: Freeze. Phantom_

***there is no real translation for the word 'Halfa' since it's not a real word. But this is what it's supposed to mean for my story.**

* * *

**Phantom: Ah, Clockwork. Nothing is quite as good when you're involved. Well, other than a story involving Danny, Clockwork and Vlad… WAIT! That's what this is! Ha ha, I love this story.**

**Trainer: don't you have work to do?**

**Phantom: don't you?**

**Trainer: shut up. School is important too.**

**Phantom: ok, ok, you're right too.**

**Trainer: by the way, I have to tell you something.**

**Phantom: What?**

**Trainer: there is no October Friday the 13****th**** this year.**

**Phantom: … NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *drops to the floor***

**Trainer: ha ha, oh well. *smile*I have to admit, this is getting really heated up. Just don't reveal too much. There has to be some suspense and mystery for your next story.**

**Phantom: ok, fine. Well… now what?**

**Trainer: how about we ask our readers for reviews?**

**Phantom: that's a… reasonable idea.**

**Both: PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Clockwork: stay tuned for the next chapter. You'll love it, I promise.**

**Both: DON'T REVEAL **_**ANYTHING**_** CLOCKWORK!**

**Clockwork: ha ha, I wouldn't dream of it.**

***Phantom and Trainer hug Clockwork and wave to the viewers***


	10. Chapter 10: Plans for Little Badger

**Phantom: Hey everybody!**

**Trainer: yeah, been a while.**

**Phantom: sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I got tired and didn't feel like doing it. If I write like that, then the chapter won't be written well.**

**Trainer: that… is true. But you left your story at an important part. So I want to hear what happens next.**

**Phantom: you will, you will. First, there is something I would like to say; a dedication if you will.**

**Trainer: well get on with it.**

**Phantom: While I was away for my school's String Retreat, we got word about my strings teacher. A few chapters back, I made a dedication to her about finding out she was having a baby. Now, I would like to dedicate this to some more good news about her; she had her baby while I was away! I'm so happy for her. Perhaps I should name a character after her and her child?**

**Trainer: well, it's your story. As long as you don't make it too hard/difficult. Then we'll have a problem.**

**Phantom: ok, ok. But there's something I've been meaning to find out.**

**Trainer: um, there are a lot of things you want to know. What is it?**

**Phantom: It's Ghostwriter's name before he died.**

**Trainer: what about it?**

**Phantom: Everyone calls him 'Andrew Riter' as his name before he died and not that I don't love the name, but where did it come from? Hey! To all you readers out there, can somebody tell me where this name came from?**

**Trainer: actually, I would like to know that too.**

**Phantom: so we agree on this. Ok. We'll see you all at the bottom. K?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Plans for Little Badger**

* * *

Vlad awoke early the next morning. Although his dreams were uneventful, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he was getting. In fact, it was because of this feeling that he really, _really_ wanted to check up on Daniel and make sure he was alright.

He took a quick shower, got dresses in a handsome (and utterly predictable) black suit, and tied his hair back into a ponytail before he headed down the hall to Daniel's room.

When he got to the room, he flung the door open with such speed that he nearly fell forward and onto the ground. As he caught himself on the door-frame and looked up, he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in a long drawled out sigh.

Danny was still in the bed where Vlad had left him last night. He still looked calm, even though he was battered and bruised and covered in bandages and ointments.

Vlad composed himself as he straightened his suit jacket and walked over to the large bed. He looked down on the slumbering and oblivious boy. "_How is it that this boy, this one boy who has shown that he can be powerful yet merciful, wary yet trustful, and dangerous yet kind, be so sad, hopeless and at anyone's mercy?"_ Vlad thought to himself.

"_Is this even the same boy? Is this really Daniel before me? The same Daniel that has defeated Pariah Dark, the Ghost King. Who mocks Skulker when a blade is put to his throat. Who showed that he was willing to forgive the things that I had done. That had beaten his and other ghosts' schemes. It really does seem impossible at time as to how fragile Daniel is at times. Still such a child,"_ Vlad mused as he brushed some of the boy's ebony hair out of his face.

How it managed to continuously fall in Daniel's face, with or without a wind blowing, was beyond Vlad's comprehension or care for that matter. All that mattered at this point was seeing to Daniel's wounds, bandages and overall health.

The older hybrid brought a chair over to the bed and headed to the bathroom to retrieve the first-aid kit. As he returned, he held the first-aid kit under his arm while he had a syringe in one hand and a tube of glowing white ointment in the other.

He sat down in the chair and dropped the first-aid kit on his lap. He then took the tube of glowing white ointment and began to fill the syringe.

Vlad knew exactly what the substance was; even if it was diluted. Daniel knew all too well what it was as well. It was that white substance that Vlad had shown him on their trip to Vlad's personal greenhouse. It was the same substance that the older hybrid had used to help Danny recover from his first near-death experience and repair his abused/ hurt vocal chords a few months ago.

Even though the substance was never directly touching the billionaire, he could still feel the intense cold that radiated off of it. But then again, even the slightest thought of the ointment sent a chill up his spine; and he never found it fun.

Vlad placed the now empty tube down and lifted the filled syringe. Vlad visibly paled. He was never one to be fond of… needles. Taking a deep breath, Vlad leaned over the younger hybrid; the syringe poised to strike its' target.

The boy's icy, yet dormant, core.

Vlad wished he could administer the glowing white liquid in some other manner; like as the cream he could make it or a simple pill! Or at the very least, he wished he didn't have to put the needle into the other hybrid's already fragile core. His arm or shoulder would have been preferred.

But, alas, it had to be the core. This version of the ointment was made especially for core repair. True, the substance itself was dangerous and could cause problems if exposed to the skin for too long, but Daniel's core was damaged and needed to be repaired quickly. Otherwise, who knew if the boy would ever heal?

Vlad steadied himself and searched for that familiar feeling that was Daniel's dormant core. When he found it, he placed the tip of the needle on the boy's skin.

"Now, this may feel uncomfortable, Daniel, but I'm doing this for your own good," Vlad said and then he plunged it into Danny's chest.

Vlad had remained paled the entire time. He emptied the contents of the syringe into the icy core and removed the needle. He didn't move, he didn't breathe, and he didn't do anything. Vlad was as still as a statue, waiting for a reaction, but nothing happened.

He had half expected the act of another needle entering the boy's core to shock him awake, but… it didn't. Danny simply lied there while the side effect of a glow encompassing his form came and went within a few seconds. I had looked like the needle and medicine hadn't affected the younger hybrid at all.

Vlad sighed. _"Perhaps a few more doses will help. I'll give him one per day until he awakens and we can properly test his health,"_ Vlad thought to himself.

Vlad continued with his work until he had removed, cleaned and re-bandaged all of the boy's wounds. As he was re-packing the first-aid kit, he noticed the other glowing objects in the room; the three books. The top one, Daniel's book, was glowing a little bit brighter.

Vlad smiled at this. It wasn't a big smile, but it was large enough for someone to know he was at least slightly pleased about something. And he was. He might not be able to fully understand these books or their purpose, but he did know that the books were connected to and reacted to the hybrids. Vlad hypothesised that if Daniel's book returned to its full strength (or at least looked like it had) then Daniel would have as well.

With that in mind, the billionaire grabbed the book as well as the first-aid kit and left the room. He wouldn't be staying around the other halfa all day. Yes, he would check up on him every few hours but it is best to have a warning system. And what better than an item that reacts to him?

Vlad wanted to learn more about these books and as long as he had them, he would make use of them. As Vlad headed to his dining room, he thought of all the things he could try and do today; all the while oblivious to the pair of red glowing eyes watching him, until they disappeared.

* * *

Back at the Fenton house, Jazz was awake bright and early. Like Vlad, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. It wasn't a school day (thank god) and that meant that she had today to find her brother. If she did, she would bring him home. If she didn't however, then she needed a good cover for Danny.

Thanks to Tucker yesterday, they at least knew that Vlad was still a possibility. Which left the questions; who was going to confront Vlad and what kind of excuse could they use to cover for Danny if he needed to recover more?

Jazz sighed. She knew the answer to the first question. It would be her. If Sam did it then she would just rush over there and shoot first ask questions never. If Tucker did it… ok, there was no 'if Tucker did it'. He would be too afraid to even pick up the phone let alone accuse Vlad of having her brother.

Jazz sighed as she thought back to yesterday and what they had found on the little metallic bug.

_Sam and Tucker nodded. "Just in case, let's see what we can get out of this little guy," Tucker said as he grabbed the metal bug from Jazz and got to work._

"_Ok," Tucker said, "here. We. GO!" suddenly his PDA's screen was filled with millions of ones and zeros as the encrypted code of the spy bug was broken down._

"_Well, what's it say?" Sam asked, peering over the Techno-geek's shoulder._

"_Give me a minute to actually decrypt it, Sam. This isn't as easy as it looks. This thing is state of the art, with like twenty different types of firewalls, fail safes and more! One wrong move and the bug could literally explode like that bracelet Danny had had," Tucker said. Looking through the codes again and again, Tucker was starting to get annoyed._

_Jazz picked up on it and asked, "What's wrong, Tucker? Did something go wrong?"_

_Tucker sighed and looked at the two girls, "well, both yes and no. first of all, I got through all the things I mentioned earlier."_

"_Well that's great," Jazz said happily._

"_Yeah, but then I got stuck," Tucker said, looking back at his PDA. "I can't get past this last section. If I can't, then we'll have to give up on this little guy. And just for the record, this thing was harder to crack then that bracelet from before."_

"_That's… not so great," Jazz admitted as everything her friend had said began to sink in. "Wait! What was this last section that you could get by?"_

_Tucker looked at the red-head and said, "A password. But I doubt that you could figure it out."_

"_Oh, give me that," Jazz said as she ignored the annoyed 'hey!' and snickering in the background._

_Sam then asked, "What are you doing Jazz? Do you know what the password is?"_

_Jazz just gave the Goth girl and Techno-geek a smile that could have easily been Danny's and said, "I know that cheese head pretty well. There are several guesses that I have for his password, but only three could work. We might want to keep them in mind if there is more than one password."_

"_Um," Sam said, "I don't know what's creepier. The fact that everyone in your family seems to have the same intense smile when you're 'in the zone' or the fact that you know what Vlad is thinking."_

"_Yeah, that is kind of… of… what's the word?" Tucker asked his friend._

"_Fruitloopy?" Sam supplied with a grin._

"_Yeah, that's it," Tucker laughed._

_Jazz frowned and said, "ha, ha. Very funny, but I'm serious guys. Tucker, just how many passwords are we talking here?"_

_Tucker looked at his PDA over Jazz's shoulder and said, "Hmmm, about… two, maybe three. Each one is different. And… it looks like they were updated recently. You really think you know what the passwords are?"_

"_Definitely," Jazz said. "What does Vlad do and want more than everything else?_

_Sam smirked, catching on. "He wants to kill your dad, marry your mom, and make Danny his son/ evil apprentice… oh and he wants to buy the Packers." Sam scoffed, "Not happening, any of it."_

_Jazz nodded. As she typed in her ideas of the passwords, Tucker and Sam watched with trepidation. As she typed, they saw what the passwords were: Bumbling-oaf, Maddie Masters, Danny Masters._

_The system processed the entries in seconds, but to team Phantom, it felt like hours. As the passwords began to be accepted, the group began to feel their hope rise, until the last password was denied._

_Sam hit the table and yelled, "DAMN! I thought we had it!"_

_Jazz sighed, but then got an idea. She began typing again but instead of typing in _Danny _Masters, she typed _Daniel_ Masters. Tucker's eye lit up as he exclaimed, "Jazz you're a genius! Vlad _never_ calls Danny 'Danny'. He always refers to him as Daniel!"_

_With the press of a button, they had complete access to the small devices' systems. Everything of course was still in Vlad's little codes, but some of it was recognizable. Small videos, audio, and examinations from the past few weeks. Other than that, it was pretty useless._

_The trio fell back into their seats in disappointment. All three thought, 'well that was a waste in time'. Jazz placed the PDA of the table while Tucker rubbed his temples. Sam was so annoyed that she punched the table again; right where the PDA was._

"_Dude! I still had three payments on that one!" Tucker screeched as he saw the Goth girl punch his device._

"_Sorry, Tucker. I'm just so mad about everything that I –" Sam started but was interrupted by a small beeping. When they looked back at the PDA (which actually survived Sam's fist), they saw that a new message came onto the screen. It was a homing signal._

"_Tucker?" Jazz asked, "What is it doing?"_

_Tucker picked up his hand-held and smiled. "This is great! It's sending out a homing signal. Not just one, but two!"_

"_Two? Why would it send out two? That doesn't make sense," Sam said nonchalantly._

_Tucker scratched his head. "That's… a good question," he admitted. "But I think I know the reason. One of them is for Vlad's home in Wisconsin, you know, so that it can return if it needs to be repaired. The other is for some target called… 'LB'. What on earth could 'LB' stand for?"_

_Jazz face-palmed and said, "It's what Vlad sometimes calls my little brother. I overheard one of their fights and he had called him 'Little Badger'. 'LB' stands for 'Little Badger', meaning that the target for this spy bug was Danny!"_

_Sam's eye lit up with an old spark as she said, "can we track Danny with this thing?!"_

_Tucker's eyes did the same as he said, "yes, yes we can! If I just trace the signal to its origins, and… done. Hey we were right! Danny's at Vlad place in Wisconsin. Vlad was the one who helped Danny!"_

_Jazz smiled but thought to herself, 'Vlad better not hurt Danny if he knows what's good for him. Also, how did that fruitloop get his little spy to continuously follow Danny's signal?' That didn't matter right now. What did was the fact that they now knew where Danny was, and nothing was going to stop them._

Jazz rubbed her temples as the memory faded. God she was getting a headache from all this. Yes, they knew Vlad had Danny, and she could only hope that Danny was ok. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after 8:00 am. Hopefully, Vlad was awake by now and wouldn't just ignore the phone.

She picked up her cellphone up and dialled an all too familiar number. Then she waited.

*ring* *ring* *ring* *click*

"_Hello? Masters Residence,"_ said a voice that Jazz recognized as the butler from the reunion. How she could remember someone after only one encounter was beyond her.

"Hello?" the red-head said. "Is Vlad Masters there?"

Jazz heard the other man shuffle a little before he said, _"Who is this? Do you have an appointment with Mr. Masters?"_

Jazz frowned but replied, "No, I don't have an appointment and I don't think I require one. If he isn't home at the moment, I can leave a message. Just tell him that Jasmine Fenton called and that I want to talk to him."

There was a long pause and Jazz swore that she heard someone else on the other end speaking with the butler. Then, she heard a shuffling sound that signalled that the phone had been passed to another person.

"_Hello, Jasmine,"_ came the suave voice of the billionaire, and Jazz smiled in slight victory.

* * *

Vlad had just finished his breakfast and was about to go and check on Daniel when he heard the phone ring. Finally, Derek picked up the phone. Unfortunately, Vlad was too far away to hear the person on the other end of the phone. But he could hear Derek loud and clear.

"Hello? Masters Residence," said the butler from the kitchen.

Vlad decided to move closer, just in case he was needed to take the phone. As the older half ghost entered the room, he saw Derek frown slightly. Either the person on the line with him was someone who was an enemy to Vlad himself or they were a stranger to Derek.

The he heard the butler say, "Who is this? Do you have an appointment with Mr. Masters?" Yep, definitely someone Derek didn't know or remember.

Vlad was finally close enough to hear the person on the other end as they said, _"No, I don't have an appointment and I don't think I require one. If he isn't home at the moment, I can leave a message. Just tell him that Jasmine Fenton called and that I want to talk to him."_

Vlad moved in while Derek put a hand over the speaker to the phone. Vlad then whispered to the butler, "Derek, hand me the phone. I'll take care of it from here."

Derek nodded and returned to his duties. Vlad didn't see it, but Derek was immensely relieved to not have to face the person on the other end. Surprisingly, Derek felt he knew this girl named Jazz from somewhere, he just couldn't remember where. Oh well.

Vlad watched as Derek left and gave a small sigh. He then returned his attention to the phone and spoke into the device, "Hello Jasmine."

"_Hello, Vlad. I'm just going to get straight to the point, I know you were the one who saved Danny from the Guys in White," _Jazz said. Then she paused before she exploded, _"You better not have hurt him Vlad. If you have done anything to harm him I swear I will-"_

"JASMINE!" Vlad yelled, instantly silencing the girl. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Jasmine, listen to me. I haven't done anything to him but help him. Those infernal government agents did quite a number on him."

"_Is… is he… ok?"_ Jazz asked. All other thoughts gone.

Vlad sighed and replied, "As far as I know, he will recover. However, he has to remain here to be treated. I believe you already know the reasons why." And he heard a small 'yes' on the other end. "now, I'm sure you have thought about this, but Daniel will need a reason for his absence in Amity Park. Do you have any plans thus far?"

"_Actually, I did,"_ the red-head replied, surprising Vlad. He hadn't been expecting her to say that, but he might as well hear her idea before he revealed his own. _"Since I was right that it was you who saved Danny, I thought that maybe I could say something like he was staying with you for the time being. It wouldn't be weird since you are a 'close family friend' and all," _Jazz finished.

Vlad rubbed his chin. He had to admit, that was pretty good. Not completely well thought out, but still pretty good. "Not bad, Jasmine, but have you thought of a reason as to why Daniel might be at my place, here in Wisconsin?"

He heard Jazz on the other end mutter under her breath and he just smiled. He had her beat. _"Alright, Vlad. I know you've got something up your sleeve, so let's hear it," _Jazz said.

Vlad chuckled. It was just too easy to manipulate Jasmine and her brother sometimes. "Now listen carefully. If you're going to tell people that Daniel's here, tell them it's because he got injured while his parents were away. I had stepped in and offered to care for him while you went about your business and school. Oh, and you should tell them that you'll be visiting often. That way you can come and go without any worry of suspicion."

"_That could work. That way, no one will ask why Danny and I aren't in school. I can even get his homework and such to him or get his teachers to send it to him via e-mail. But that means I'll have to come over soon,"_ Jazz said.

Vlad rolled his eyes. Of course it would work, he planned it. "Yes, well, I'll await your arrival," he said.

"_Oh, you'll have to wait until I can pack some of his things as well as tell his teachers that he'll be recovering at your place,"_ Jazz said smugly. _"Bye, Vlad"_ and then he heard the phone hang up.

Clever girl. But she had to agree to his plan. It was the best thing for Daniel at the moment, plus, it didn't hurt that Vlad got something out of this too.

Daniel's secret was safe and now the boy had more people watching over him while he was here; with limited access of course. Now it was time to check up on said boy. Vlad hadn't gotten any warnings from the book yet, but he always felt troubled when it involved the younger half ghost.

Vlad climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to the young halfa's room. He opened the door and watched as the book he held glowed brighter. A smile appeared on the older halfa's face. He could never see himself getting used to the feeling of a pulsing book.

He walked over to Danny's bed and peered down at the still unconscious boy. Vlad wished he would just wake up. It wasn't just so Vlad would know that the boy was alright; he wanted to know all that happened to his young rival and possibly solve all these mysteries.

The cave wall, these books, the ghost who stole the books in the first place and of course… _Him_. Daniel obviously knew who _He_ was and so did his friends and sister. But he wanted to know who this… ghost was that scared Daniel so much. Maybe then he could get some answers.

With a sigh, Vlad turned and left the boy to sleep. He didn't look back at the door as he walked down to his private lab.

* * *

Jazz smiled in slight triumph. She now had a reason for why Danny wasn't around as well as for her and possibly Danny's friends to be absent at times too. She didn't have a lot of time. The most she would wait is three days before heading over.

She put away her cellphone and moved to her brother's room. She pulled out a duffle bag from under his bed and started to pack it full of things; his laptop computer, several outfits (his usual ensemble as well as some things she hadn't seen him wear inn a while), a sketchbook with pencils (both coloured and not) and some other things she thought he might want. Oh, and his cellphone. He hadn't grabbed it when he had disappeared. Good thing too; who knows what those idiot government agents would have done had they found this on him.

Jazz finished packing and sat on her brother's bed. She thought of what she needed to do in the next few days. _"Tell Mr. Lancer and Danny's other teachers about Danny and where he is. Hmm, that will have to wait till tomorrow. Sam and Tucker? I could call them today, but I don't want them doing anything rash, so that will have to wait too. Am I missing anything?"_ She asked herself.

Just then, she heard a whimpering coming from the doorway. She whipped her head up so quickly, she had an afterthought about whether or not she gave herself whiplash. Pushing the door open more, TJ moved his body into the room.

Jazz smiled and welcomed the puppy onto the bed. TJ perked up and joined the red-head. "What's wrong TJ? Do you miss Danny to?" Jazz asked.

TJ lowered his ears and whimpered. Well that was a yes. "Don't worry, TJ. We'll get him back, just you wait. He just needs to heal," Jazz tried to comfort the unhappy pooch.

Jazz then had an idea. Vlad wouldn't like it, but if Danny was able to convince him, then this might work! She scratched the dog's head and said, "Hey, TJ. What if you come with us? Vlad has a cat, but you're pretty good with cats. You don't chase or hurt them like when we first got you. Danny and I might be able to convince Vlad to let you stay with Danny until he returns. Well? How does that sound?"

TJ barked happily and spun in a tight circle. Jazz smiled and stated, "Then it's settled. We'll give it a try."

With that said she got up and left the room to do some chores around the house for the rest of the day.

* * *

It had been several hours by now since Jazz and Vlad had spoken. It was now around 1:00 pm and a certain Goth girl and Techno-geek were **not** in the best of moods.

Jazz had told them that she would confront Vlad about Danny's whereabouts, but they had yet to hear from the red-headed teen. And it worried them. What was taking so long?

Sam and Tucker had both tried to call her that morning, but both either got voicemail or a busy line. What could she have been doing that meant she couldn't talk to them?

Whatever it was, they just hoped that it was worth all this worry. Not only was Danny missing, but all of his enemies seemed to have disappeared with him. The town hadn't been attacked since Danny was noticed missing, and that wasn't normal.

People, mostly teens, were beginning to notice the absence of Danny Phantom too, and that meant Danny's secret was in jeopardy again. And it was up to those two to handle damage control, they were sure of it.

Just within that morning, they had told groups of people and put up fake websites that said that all ghosts stop fighting every once in a while before resuming it. That maybe Danny Phantom's absence was because he was taking a break and his enemies (since they were also ghosts) were letting him have it.

Either way, it seemed that their quick cover for Danny's alter-ego was good enough to satisfy the people of their town. Thank god none of the town's folk were too observant.

They walked around town on a mid-day patrol, seeing if any ghosts had decided to show up. Other than the few animal ghosts here and there, it was pretty quiet.

*Bam*

"Tucker!" Sam yelled as she dodged another green furred wolf from her left while the other circled on her right. "I could use some help over here," She continued. She used her wrist-ray to shoot the second wolf as the first recovered tumbling over a trashcan.

Tucker grunted, "Kind of busy, Sam. If you hadn't noticed, this freaky snake thinks I'm his lunch!" Tucker blasted the ghost's tail as he avoided the two sets of fangs racing to his legs. "What kind of snake has two heads?! This is ridiculous!" he complained as he dodged the heads again.

Sam snicked and said, "Ghosts, Tucker. Ghost snakes have two heads." She then stomped on one of the wolf's head and said, "No! Down boy, heel!"

She turned her head and yelled to the Techno-geek, "hey, Tucker!"

"What?" he gasped back. Clearly, his time in P.E. wasn't helping him at all.

"Let's switch targets on the count of three. You suck up these two and I'll get your Siamese snake," She said as she shot the first wolf again.

Tucker thought about it and replied, "Ok. On three. One."

"Two," Sam continued.

"THREE!" they both yelled as Sam went high and Tucker went low. Sam Jumped over Tucker and landed a kick in both of the snake's heads before she did a backflip and landed on her feet. She then pulled out a _Fenton Thermos_ and sucked the ghost snake in.

"Hmm, I think that was a king cobra, or… I guess in this case it was a double king cobra," Sam said while turning to face Tucker.

Tucker in the meantime was struggling with the two ghost wolves. He had slid under the Goth girl's form and came to a stop in front of the ghosts.

He smile meekly and said, "Um… goo doggy?"

The wolves growled and lunged for his legs. He pulled them away and started to run for his life. "Bad doogies, BAD DOGGIES!" Tucker yelled.

The wolves chased him until he dived for his own _Fenton Thermos_ (which he dropped earlier) and spun around to see two sets of glowing blood red eyes. In the next instant, the pair of ghosts was also sucked into the thermos.

Tucker wiped his brow and said, "Nobody turns Tucker Foley into lunch meat." He then shivered at the prospect of being something so revolting and commented, "Ok. Not the best analogy. That definitely qualifies as an 'ew' moment."

Sam walked over to Tucker and the two continued their patrol into the later afternoon. By the time they had to return home, they were exhausted.

Sam was still pissed that they couldn't reach Jazz and Tucker was trying to calm her down.

"Come on, Tucker. There has to be a reason why Jazz isn't responding. I think we should check it out," Sam argued.

Tucker just shook his head. "I don't think so. Jazz might actually be busy. For all we know, she's been bargaining with Vlad all day about our accusation and our reasons to find and/or see Danny. We all know that Vlad is as stubborn as any of the Fentons," Tucker tried to reason.

Sam sighed and said, "Let's call her one more time. If she answers and answers our main questions, then I'll drop it for now. If she doesn't, then we go over to her house and demand an explanation."

Tucker nodded and Sam nodded back. She pulled out her cellphone and speed dialled the red-headed girl.

*ring* *ring* ring* *click!*

"_Hello?"_ Jazz answered, _"Fenton household, Jazz speaking. Who is this?"_

"It's Sam. Where have you been, Jazz? We've been trying to reach you all day," Sam said in a very annoyed tone.

Jazz sighed and replied, _"Sorry. I was cleaning the house and running errands today. I also spoke with Vlad. He confirmed our suspicions. Danny's with him, and by the sounds of it, Danny's in pretty rough shape."_

Tucker grabbed the phone and said, "How bad. Is he ok?"

"_I don't know the details, but Danny needs to recover in Vlad's care. And before you two get any ideas, Vlad promised me that he wouldn't harm him. We also get to see him while he recovers. I packed some of Danny's things for him when I do go and visit, but we need to do some stuff first,"_ Jazz explained.

Tucker and Sam shared a look. They didn't trust Vlad. The only people who didn't trust him more than them were Danny and Jazz, so for one of them to suddenly trust the conniving man was big. If Jazz said that she was going to trust him, then they would have to too.

They turned their attention back to the phone and said simultaneously, "What do we need to do?"

They heard a huge sigh that they assumed was out of relief. Jazz must have doubted their trust in this matter to do that. Said girl then began to explain, _"Vlad and I have come up with an almost flawless plan and excuse for why Danny will be gone and why we'll be missing at times too. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. Just know that in about two days I plan to go see Danny, so everything needs to be set up before then. Got it?"_

"Got it," Sam said. "We'll see you tomorrow." And she ended the call.

Sam looked at Tucker and said, "Now I can go home. With that piece of information, I'll be able to sleep better at night."

Tucker laughed but agreed with his friend. Knowing that they had a plan was better than being left in the dark. As the two walked home, talked about school, the newest version of 'DOOM' and other such things. When they came to a certain street, they said their goodbyes and continued to their separate homes.

* * *

It was now nearly 8:00 pm and Vlad knew that Jasmine wasn't going to be coming today. He didn't know when she would arrive, but he would send her a message warning her to tell him in advance when she was coming. He didn't want her coming out of nowhere and causing a panic with his ghostly staff. It was bad enough the last time.

Vlad made his usual trip up to Daniel's room for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day when in reality it was only about the fifteenth. Which, by normal standards, was kind of obsessive.

But, gosh darn it; Vlad was worried about the younger halfa. He was like a father or guardian who could only watch helplessly as their child suffered; even when said child didn't actually look like he/she was.

Vlad had only needed to change the bandages and medical plants once that whole day just a little after 4:00 pm, but he would end up checking on the ghost boy every few hours. When he wasn't doing that, he was balancing the workload from his companies and mayoral duties along with his own personal endeavours.

One of these endeavours being the mystery of the books and the being who had wanted them. Vlad knew bit and pieces, but it wasn't enough to put the puzzle together.

After making sure that everything was fine with Daniel, he moved back to his study to do some research. There had to be some lead as to who the being was.

As the billionaire walked through the halls, he remembered a video he had taken of Daniel and his friends being attacked by the ghost. He then thought, _"Didn't they find out his name during the battle?"_

As Vlad pondered this, he remembered the name; _Koŝmaro Magiisto_, or as they also knew it as, _Nightmare Magician._ Now he had a starting point to work off of.

Vlad moved about the lab, pulling of books and files as well as using his computer, to find anything on this Koŝmaro Magiisto fellow.

Finally, he found it. Most of the information came from a book called "Myths and Magic through the Ages", but some also came from stories people had heard over the years.

He saw the same picture of the magician from before he died and compared it to the being's ghostly self. Same person alright. Vlad read the same information that Jazz had read to Danny, Sam and Tucker. As he read, he discovered more and more about this ghost. From the reading, he made a guess that the flames that destroyed the child's home and family was either done by the child or the man who had accompanied him to the castle in the first place. The question now was; why?

Other than the fact that Koŝmaro was a gifted magician, why would someone go through all that trouble? Was it for power? Money? Lust? Or was it just something as simple as wanting the boy as his own? Vlad didn't know, but he was going to find out.

After about two hours of searching and a tea break, Vlad found what he was looking for. Not much was known about the man that had been with the princely magician, but a hand maiden had written about the days that the prince had been missing to the day the castle burned. She even talked to the prince before he disappeared.

Apparently, Koŝmaro had gone into the nearby woods to do some hunting for sport. The only being he took with him was his familiar; a silver fox with a white bushed tail and forest green eyes.

Vlad paused. He had heard about familiars. They were like mini spirits that came from a magical being, and they helped them when they needed it. Some ghosts were even powerful enough to have one, though the older halfa had yet to meet one. Perhaps Koŝmaro still had his somewhere.

Continuing; Koŝmaro always went to the woods either alone or with one of the nearby kingdoms royal children. That day he went alone. The hand maiden followed out of fear for his wellbeing. Secretly, she and the prince had become good friends and later on lovers.

While Koŝmaro was in the woods, he happened upon the strange man, who at the time was carving runes into a circle formed in the dirt. The young magician got curious and began talking to the man. The hand maiden wasn't close enough to hear, but she saw that her lover seemed excited by what the man had said. The two then left and didn't return for the year. Within that year, the prince had sent letters to the maiden asking her not to tell anyone about their communication.

The maiden had agreed and waited for him to return. When he did a year later, the two caught up on what had happened. The man was apparently a wizard, but Koŝmaro felt that there was something the man wasn't telling him. The man had taken him travelling for the year and taught him more about his powers. Finally, the maiden and prince had parted for the evening, but the maiden couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She followed her lover until he had gone to meet with the strange man; then she stayed hidden. The man had cast a spell on the prince that made him do whatever the man said. And what he commanded brought tears to the maiden's eyes.

She ran back to the castle and warned the boy's parents, but they only had enough time for the three of them to escape. The man and Koŝmaro returned to the castle that night and lit the place in Koŝmaro's purple flames. During the whole event, Koŝmaro had been crying. He had believed that he had not only killed his parents, but also his lover and the rest of the castle residents.

What he didn't know was that his parents and the maiden had escaped and that the kingdom was hiding them for the time being. When he and the man had left, the three returned and everything returned to how it was before. The only exception being that a dark cloud hung over the three as well as the rest of the kingdom. They never heard from Koŝmaro or the man again.

Vlad leaned back into his chair when he finished reading. This was all excellent information about who Koŝmaro was exactly, but Vlad didn't see how this would help solve the puzzle he had mentally created. Was nothing easy in this world anymore?

Vlad sighed and stood to leave. This was all he could take for one day. As he exited the private lab and entered his private study, he felt the familiar pulsing of Daniel's book; but this time it was… different. It felt like it was trying to tell him something.

Vlad looked at the book he held and lift it to eye level. He then filled his hand with some of his pink energy and placed it on the centre gem. The book opened without restraint.

Vlad flipped the cover open and blinked several times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him since it was evening by now. Nope, he was seeing right. The book now had writing in it… or at least, it was writing in itself.

The writing said: **Don't worry about Danny, Vlad Plasmius. He'll recover. Just continue doing what you're doing.**

Then the writing disappeared. Vlad shook his head and mumbled, "If this is a trick, it's not very funny. And how can a book know who somebody is? Ridiculous."

**Not ridiculous, you stupid halfa. Just unlikely. And yes, I do know who you are. However, I can't speak to you for very long. Plus, you aren't my owner. Put me back near Danny! Unless he agrees, I don't just speak to anyone.**

Vlad scowled. This book acted like Daniel as well. That was just _wonderful_. "Fine, I'll return you to Daniel's side for the moment. But don't think that this is the last we'll be talking…"

**Frostigi. My name is Frostigi.**

"_Well that explains part of the writing on the binding,"_ Vlad thought. "Alright then, Frostigi. I'll figure out what you and those other books are for," the older half ghost said.

**Whatever. I could tell you how you could avoid the long wait, but I happen to like messing with you. It's kinda fun.**

"You really do act like Daniel, don't you," Vlad sneered, but he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face.

**Hmph. You would know why if you could just figure out the puzzle.**

Vlad sighed, knowing this was getting him nowhere. Vlad watched as the writing receded and then closed the book. He went up to his rival's room and placed the book down with the others. He saw the same reaction that he had seen the other night, but he didn't take the book back this time.

As he left, he gave one more concerned glance over his shoulder and left the room. As he thought about what might happen when Jasmine finally came, he thought about what had just happened with Frostigi and the phrase _"don't judge a book by its cover"._ Talk about being cliché.

Meanwhile, Frostigi and Danny were glowing softly as the hybrid slept; each healing their lost strength with some unknown power that seemed to connect the two.

* * *

**Phantom: Ha, ha. It seems Vlad got quite a surprise when Frostigi finally spoke. Not to mention the little back story about Koŝmaro.**

**Trainer: Yeah… I didn't even know Frostigi could speak to others. And what's with it and Danny healing like that.**

**Phantom: Not telling.**

**Trainer: party pooper.**

**Phantom: just wait. You'll find out what it all means soon enough. But some other things… wait till the sequel.**

**Trainer: grr. Good thing I can just ask you about it later.**

**Phantom: whatever. Just one more thing to do.**

**Trainer: get readers to review?**

**Phantom: besides that. *whistles loudly* Bring it in everyone!**

***the whole cast of Danny Phantom comes into the room***

**Trainer: One. Two. Three.**

**Everyone: HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM EVERYONE AT **_**DANNY PHANTOM HQ**_**!**

**Phantom: cyber cookies to anyone who has ever dressed or thought of dressing like a DP character. I know I have so one cookie for me… and one for Jack for who knows why.**

**Trainer: yeah! Trick or Treat! I get a treat!**


	11. Chapter 11: Awake and Half - Alive

**Phantom: hey everyone. First things first… don't kill me. I didn't mean to not update until now, I just had a lot of problems with my teachers and studying for tests and exams. If you haven't seen my profile update yet, there are some things you need to know.**

**I have a DA account now. The link is on my profile. It will almost always have something related to my stories so you may have sneak-peaks to some of my ideas. (No spoiling it for anyone though! I'll find you if you do!)**

**As soon as my winter break starts, I plan to do more updating. I want to update at least once a month, but that isn't always possible. If I don't do a regular update, don't get mad… I'm looking at you trainer. *glares***

**Trainer: what did I do?! O_O?**

**Phantom: Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you started to "subtlety" tell me to write this next chapter.**

**Trainer: well, you would too if you had to wait.**

**Phantom: whatever. Anyways, this is the chapter that some of you have been waiting for. DANNY WAKES UP! That's all I'm saying though. You have to read to find out what happens. FWI, this isn't the last chapter, not even close! I'm just getting warmed up!**

**Trainer: *claps sarcastically* yes, yes, you get to continue this story some more. Can we get on with this already? I want to read.**

**Phantom: *smiles to everyone* yeah, yeah, we can. Please enjoy everybody!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Awake and Half - Alive**

* * *

Jazz was getting ready to leave. She had packed everything that she thought her brother would need. Clothes, computer, phone (idiot forgot it, as usual), and even some of TJ's things for if she convinced Vlad to let the dog stay. She was exhausted from the past three days. She not only had to explain the situation to the school and Danny's teachers, but also convince them that this was for the best.

It wasn't easy. She had walked in that Monday and right into Danny's first period class; which happened to be Mr. Lancer's. At least the man could relay the message to the rest of the faculty. He was surprised to see her, especially since it was in the middle of his class.

He asked why her brother was late and she told him that Danny's wasn't late; he was just not coming to school for a while. The over-weight teacher looked like he was about to scream out several book titles when Jazz had quickly stopped him and explained.

She told him that Danny had gotten hurt and that he wouldn't be around for a while so he could heal. When Mr. Lancer apologized for his reaction, he started asking questions. He asked about Danny's condition, why she wasn't at home taking care of him, and worst of all, how did he get hurt.

She had answered as truthfully as possible, but it wasn't easy. She tried to make it sound believable, but from the man's sceptical look, she knew she wasn't doing too well. She told him that she didn't get a good look at her brother's condition so she didn't know how he was fairing. To answer his next question, she had to pause and consider how to say her answer. Finally, she said what she and Vlad had agreed on; that Vlad stepped in and said it was so she could continue her studies and not worry about her brother while the billionaire took care of him. With the single mention of the pompous jerk, Mr. Lancer brightened and ate every single word. Jazz mentally rolled her eyes when the teacher said, "it's wonderful to know that Mr. Masters cares about you two so much". Jazz wanted to gag, like, seriously gag at that comment.

When she got to the last question, she mentally froze. How did Danny get hurt? She hadn't thought about what to say if she was asked that. 'Damn' was a pretty good word to use right now, but she held back. She smiled and laughed nervously, Mr. Lancer and the rest of the class waiting for an answer. Apparently the class became interested in her little story. Sam and Tucker were staring wide-eyed at the red-head with silent pleads for her to think of something. Jazz swallowed the lump in her throat and told the man that she didn't really know. All she knew was her brother got hurt and needed help.

Mr. Lancer accepted the answer and wished Danny to get better. Jazz was about to leave when she remembered that she had to get Danny's homework or get the teachers to send it to him. Also that she and sometimes Tucker and Sam would need to go and visit him while he healed. The teacher agreed and told her that they could go as long as they warned him of when they would leave and that he would tell the rest of the faculty.

She was just happy that she was able to convince the man. That conversation had been about three days ago. She had warned him that she and the others would be gone for today, so he gave them their homework early. He also gave Sam and Tucker Danny's homework. She just hoped that Danny would actually be well enough to do any work in the first place.

Jazz zipped up the last bag and sighed. She looked up and asked, "Why did it have to be _my_ little brother? What did he do to be _him_? He didn't deserve to suffer through all this." Jazz continued to look at the ceiling as if looking for the answer to all her questions, all her problems for both her and her brother.

She was brought out of her trance by a knock on the door and a small whimper. She turned around and saw Sam, Tucker and TJ standing in the doorway to Danny's room. She then wondered how long they were standing there.

Sam looked at the distraught sister and gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Jazz. We'll get to see him today, and hopefully it won't be long until he can come home," the Goth girl said.

Jazz nodded, but was still worried as to what they'll see. Was her brother just hurt a little or to the point that he could of died? She both wanted to know and not; it was an internal debate where neither side seemed to be winning.

Tucker looked away from his PDA and said, "Let's go girls…um, and dog. If we don't leave soon, then we'll get there really late and probably have to stay overnight. Not that I don't want to see Danny or anything, but… I really, _really_ don't want to be anywhere near Vlad for too long if I can help it."

Sam rolled her eyes and added her own input. "Well I'd rather stay the night and see what I could do to help Danny get better. I've been practicing some magic with my raven. Nothing big, just a few healing spells here and there," she said while pulling out a black diary with a skull lock.

Tucker snickered to which Sam glared and asked, "What's so funny?"

Tucker couldn't help it anymore; he burst with laughter. "You… you just… ha ha, just wanted… to… to see if-f-f-ha ha ha… you could… h-h-help Danny? S-s-sure you… ha ha… were," Tucker gasped between laughs.

Sam gritted her teeth and punched the Techno geek. "Of course. Why wouldn't I try and help him when he's hurt?" the Goth girl asked. Under her breath, she mumbled, "I can't stand to see him hurt."

Tucker rubbed his arm but was still smirking. "You could just tell Danny how you feel you know. You're just worried because you-"

"TUCKER!" Jazz yelled before he could continue with that sentence and possibly end up dead by Sam's hands.

Tucker blinked and turned to the red-head and was about to ask why she yelled at him until he saw his other female friend's face. Her eyes were a fierce violet, her raven perched on a nearby chair (also glaring at the teen), and her fists clutched and ready to strike if he even breathed.

Tucker gulped and said, "So, how about we go? Can't be late." With that said, the frightened boy ran out of the room to the basement lab. On the way, the two teens left in the room heard a small yelp as Tucker fell down some of the stairs.

Sam giggled slightly and Jazz put a hand on her shoulder. The two smiled before they followed the boy down to the lab. TJ barked happily as they went.

"So," Jazz said. "You didn't totally kill Tucker. Something wrong?"

Sam sighed. "No, well, I don't know. I guess I'm just worried about Danny."

"Also, you haven't named your raven yet? I thought you would have come up with something by now," Jazz continued.

Sam chuckled. She looked up at the raven and said, "I can't think of a name for her. Every time I think of one, it just doesn't seem to fit."

"Maybe Danny can help you come up with something. He can't do much worse than you, Tucker or me," Jazz said encouragingly.

"I guess. Come on. I want to get to Vlad's place before it gets too late. I don't care if we have to stay the night. I just want to make sure with my own eyes that Danny's ok," Sam said as she entered the lab.

Jazz nodded and opened the _Specter Speeder_. TJ came running across the lab and jumped in. Tucker and Sam shared a look before Tucker voiced their thoughts. "Uh, Jazz."

"Yeah?" was her short reply since she was moving the bags she packed into the back of the speeder. The other two teens noticed that it was some of Danny's things as well as TJ's.

"Is it wise to bring TJ along? I mean, he's a great ghost detector and all, but I don't think Vlad will let him stay there," Sam continued for the Techno geek.

"I agree with Sam. And what if Vlad actually **did** get a cat. I'm pretty sure that dogs and cats don't get along," Tucker added.

It was safe to say that none of them knew about the white fur-ball known as Maddie. Danny didn't talk a lot about his time with Vlad the first time around and he sure as hell wasn't going to spill any time soon. So, of course none of them knew about the cat.

Jazz levelled her gaze and said, "I don't care if I have to shove the fruitloop into the _Fenton Thermos_ and leave him in there for a few hours; TJ is going to stay by Danny and protect him. He'll be my eyes and ears when I'm not around."

Sam gave a questioning look. "What do you mean? You can't see or understand what TJ does," the Goth stated.

"True, but dad had been working on another gadget and this one is made especially for TJ. A little while back, TJ barked at Danny from the window when Danny was Phantom. Mom went and researched that animals, like dog and cats, could sense when a ghost or spirit was around. This device is like a video camera with sound as well as other things," the red-head explained.

"Oh! So that's how you'll know how Danny's doing without being there," Tucker concluded, a goofy smile on his face.

"Yeah, now come on. I already told Vlad that we were coming and were bringing a few things for Danny. Did you guys get his homework?" Jazz asked.

Sam lifted a duffle-bag, which was filled with what Jazz assumed to be several days' worth of homework, maybe even a month. "Does this answer your question?" Sam asked. "Lancer gave us days' of homework for Danny with notes on the lessons and instructions on what he needs to do. We'll help him when we can of course," Sam added.

Jazz smiled and said, "Then let's stop wasting time and go see how my little brother is doing."

Jazz climbed into the speeder and took her place at the wheel while Tucker became navigator. Sam got into a passenger's seat and made sure TJ didn't move around too much while they travelled. With one final look at the lab, Jazz hit a button and the speeder travelled along a tunnel until they were flying over the town they called home. Their destination: Wisconsin, Vlad's castle. Objective: Danny.

* * *

"_Where… where am I? What happened? Who… am I?"_ he thought to himself as he sat up, ocean blue eyes still somewhat clouded from… whatever had happened.

Danny looked around the area he was in; it was completely dark. He couldn't see anything. Wait! Was that another person? Maybe they could tell him where he was.

Danny ran towards the person and saw that there were more people than he thought. His hopes began to rise with every step. When he reached the first person, he grabbed their shoulder and turned them around to see… him. No, not himself, but him… in his ghost form; as Phantom.

Phantom seemed just as shocked to see Danny and they both said, "What are you doing here?"

The two blinked before Phantom said, "I… sort of… live here. Or I guess the better word is reside."

"O-K… so, where is here?" Danny asked, still trying to get over the fact that he was speaking to literally half of himself. It was like the _Fenton Ghost Catcher_ all over again, except that it had actually worked the way Danny had wanted it originally.

Phantom thought about the question and replied, "Um… I would have to say that we're in your mind… or I guess our mind… oh, you know what I mean. Point is that we're in your subconscious thoughts."

Danny stared at his alter-ego and sighed. Man did Danny wish he had paid more attention to Jazz and all her psychological mumbo-jumbo. "So, is it just us here or are there others? And why am I here anyways?" Danny asked.

"I…," Phantom started, but then paused. He started to rub the back of his neck nervously. Danny began to wonder if he did that a lot. "I really don't know. I usually keep to myself and away from anything else, but I suppose there are other parts of you around here too. As for why you're here… I've got nothing," Phantom finished.

"Great," Danny thought out loud. Sighing, Danny said, "Well, might as well see what other 'me-s' there are in my head."

"Subconscious," Phantom corrected while following the other hybrid.

"WHATEVER!" Danny exasperated.

The two continued to move further into the darkness until they came to a brighter region. Danny and Phantom looked around to see that it was the living room to the Fenton house. There were several beings there; all of them being a version of Danny.

Danny saw a four-year-old Danny playing with a rocket. There was Fun Danny lounging on the couch. A six-year-old Danny with… was that his bed sheet tied around his neck? Well, six-year-old Danny was jumping all over the place saying that he was going to be a super hero one day, and then there was the _actual_ Super Danny floating near the six-year-old encouraging the younger boy and 'showing him the ropes'. Finally, there was the '80's' version of Danny in his white rolled up shirt and purple tie.

Danny and Phantom entered the area and looked at the different 'Danny-s'. They all paused in what they were doing and looked at the new-comers. After a few awkward seconds of silence, the other 'Danny-s' returned to what they were doing.

In all reality, neither Danny nor Phantom could complain. They didn't want to deal with these other versions of Danny; especially Fan Danny and Super Danny. Those two where a memory that the hybrid didn't want to repeat.

However, Danny had no clue where to go and had to talk to them. "Um… does anyone know where I'm supposed to go or who I need to talk to… to oh, I don't know… get out of here?!" Danny asked.

All the 'Danny-s' looked up, but it was Fun Danny who answered. "Dude, normally I would say 'just chill-out', but right now, we've got a problem."

Phantom moved forward and asked, "what sort of problem?"

"Danny-bro got seriously hurt by those Guys in White and has been slowly healing, but he needs to get his mind straight, ya know?" Fun Danny replied.

"Um… no, I don't," Danny answered while rubbing his neck.

Super Danny flew forward and said, "When you were injured, your mind went into a state of shock and now, in order to wake-up, you need to get out of this shock."

"Ok, so… how do I do that?" Danny asked.

The other 'Danny-s' looked at him and all said, "You need to find the other 'you-s' to straighten your thoughts and then you'll find a way out of here and back to the real world."

Danny and Phantom gave them a blank stare. "You know that that makes no sense right?" Danny asked. Phantom nodded his agreement.

The other 'Danny-s' thought about it and then the four-year-old Danny got up with his rocket and grabbed Danny's hand. He smiled and said, "I know where to go."

Everyone stared at the child before Phantom spoke-up, "how? How do you know where to go?"

The four-year-old looked at everyone with big blue eyes and said, "I've been here the longest." He said it like it was obvious, and it kind of was.

"Well than, lead the way 'little man'," Danny said smiling down at the past him.

The little boy smiled and led the way. They left the living room and entered the darkness again. A little while later, they came across an area that looked like an armoury. Not just any armoury, but an armoury filled with weapons of all kinds.

There were swords, scythes, guns, ecto-weapons and more. There were also different costumes from different time periods. In the middle of the room where even more 'Danny-s'. There was Danny in medieval gear and Danny in a ninja outfit battling with swords. There was a video game version of Danny as both Fenton and Phantom from _DOOM _and they were shooting at a firing range.

They noticed the group entering and joined them. They showed the way to the next area. Leaving the armoury, they found an area that was totally destroyed. They moved in slowly, afraid of who they might find here.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Never thought I'd see you here other than at Clockwork's or in your nightmares. You being here make my job so much easier," a voice said from the top of a building.

Danny and Phantom froze in fear. They knew that voice all too well. They looked up into not just one pair of red eyes, but three. One belonged to Dan Phantom, another was to what looked like a teen version of Dan and finally there was a Circus Gothica Danny wearing a grim reaper's costume and holding a scythe.

Danny stared on in horror. He knew now that they were in the part of his mind made for the evil parts of him. Dan dove off the building and grabbed Danny by the front of his shirt; Young Dan and CG Danny following him down.

"You can't kill him you know? He's your only link to anywhere other than that Thermos. He's important to all of us. He's no good dead or comatose," Phantom spoke up.

Dan glared, but in the end he released the teen. Danny coughed and glared back at the evil ghost. When he got his voice back he said, "What are you doing here?" Danny blinked. Man, he was having serious déjà vu.

Dan looked down at the young hybrid and said, "Technically, I'm still a part of who you are. Sure, I'm stuck in a Thermos at the moment, but through this connection, I can bother you whenever I want." He said everything with his demon smile. Danny shuddered at the very thing.

"And before you ask, that **is** the younger me from when I first formed. The three of us are here because, well, we're not exactly good now are we?" Dan added.

Danny looked at the three beings. "Why do you keep them around? I thought you liked being alone and destruction, but judging by this place, I think you have one of those covered already," Danny replied cheekily.

Not smart. Young Dan made a move to vaporize Danny, but Phantom moved forward too. It was like watching a real life chess match except all the pieces where really on one side and attacking each other. Dan smiled while Danny scowled. He didn't like this one bit. It was one thing to have to see all the past 'him-s', but having to get Dan and the rest of his evil selves to cooperate was close to impossible.

Danny was brought out of his musings by Dan, who said, "Well, technically I am by myself; just me, myself and I." Dan pointed to himself, young Dan and CG Danny as he spoke. "I keep my younger self around because he's basically me. Plus, I happen to enjoy my own company. Like you said, I like being alone by myself." The only things running through Danny's mind were, _"Dan is either a bigger fruitloop than Vlad or he's incredibly egotistical, and… ewww."_

Danny cringed. That was a god awful thought. Then again, Dan didn't realise that he said that he would like spending time with not just himself, but with any of these 'Danny-s' including 'his weaker twerp self'.

Dan took no notice to Danny's sudden uncomfortable-ness and continued, "As for this guy," Dan grabbed the CG Danny, who didn't seem to notice. He kept a blank red stare on nothing in particular. "He does whatever I say. He doesn't argue and most importantly, he's evil like me if not as much."

Dan turned back to the only hybrid, and original, Danny and asked; "now why couldn't you have been like him back when I tried to kill your family and assure my future?" he smiled at the enraged teen.

"Maybe because I didn't want to lose my family and turn into you?" Danny said.

Dan frowned and retorted, "Do you really believe that _**I **_had wanted _**my**_ family to die when it happened to _**me**_? No, I didn't. But you can't change your past, Danny. I was inevitable in my timeline."

Danny turned his gaze to the floor. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt like a jerk to Dan. Dan had sounded, well, sad. He had sounded sad and angered by the fact he had to lose _**his**_ family. That was an odd thought. Danny knew Dan to be the evil future him. He came back to Danny's time to ensure his future. So than, why didn't he just let Danny **not** cheat on the CAT?

Danny knew the answer. It was because of that timeline that Dan even came into being. If it didn't happen, then Dan would have never formed. But because Danny had taken him out of the timeline in the past, Dan was able stay within the timeline without having to cause the death of his family.

Dan grabbed Danny unexpectedly and flew them out of the destroyed area and into a place that looked like… well it looked like a room that Danny might find in Clockwork's abode. Dan dropped him unceremoniously on the floor; the rest of the 'Danny-s' walking/floating into the room.

Danny turned to face Dan and asked through his surprise, "You're helping me? Why? I thought you hated me to the point of wanting to kill me?"

Dan grunted and said, "Phantom's right. You're no good to me at the moment if you're dead or comatose. Hmm, what's that?" Dan pointed to something in the middle of the room.

At the center of the room was a pedestal and on the pedestal was a certain book.

It was just like what Danny had seen from the viewing orb. The book had a big green gem in the centre and was surrounded by twelve smaller gems of the same colour. It had four white pearls in each of the corners and was decorated with gold trim. But this time, Danny could see the writing on the binding.

Danny picked up the book and stared at the beautiful letters on the binding and read, "_Duono libro: Frostigi. Fantomo. _What the? Why is this book in Esperanto?"

Dan came up behind him and said, "Esperanto huh? Haven't seen that since I was on good terms with Wulf. Or was it when Tucker had been around? Oh well, doesn't matter. What does it say, twerp?"

Danny glared silently. "One, you realise that you technically just called yourself a twerp," Dan grunted in response. "And two, it says, 'Half Book: Freeze. Phantom'… I think it's an indirect translation. I think it's meant to say _Halfa _Book, you know? Like the species; Halfa."

"Makes sense," Dan said.

"Glad that you finally made it here. And without having one of your evil selves kill you no less," a young and somewhat childish voice said from the shadows.

Danny jumped and nearly dropped the book. A boy, no older than twelve, emerged from a corner of the room. He had glowing green eyes that matched the colour of the gems on the book. His skin was slightly tan and his hair was… unusual. It was black at the front but became more and more white as it got to the back of his head and if Danny had to describe what the boy's hair looked like, he would have to say that it looked like a hedgehog's since it was so spiky.

He wore something similar to a ninja's outfit. His pants went to his knees and were quite baggy. He wore white socks from the knees down and a pair of shoes that were practically made for any ninja. His top was black and looked like a turtle-neck with the sleeves cut off. He wore white gloves that went to his elbows and on his right arm was a small arm pocket. Finally around his waist was a white belt with several green pockets and devices in it.

The most surprising thing about the boy though was the fact that he had a big, fluffy, white/silvery tail. Danny had no idea why, but he actually _wasn't_ afraid of the boy; just surprised by his arrival. The boy smiled and said, "Guess I have some explaining to do huh? Let's start with an introduction. My name is Frostigi. Or, as you've seen on my cover, it also means Freeze."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, **wait!** What do you mean by '_my cover_'? Don't tell me you're," Danny said while pointing at the book in his hands.

Frostigi nodded and said, "Yep! I'm that book there. Your name is on there too. This is your book!"

Danny blinked a few times before he sat down on the floor. Dan raised an eyebrow and said, "Wow. I've been trying to think of a way to shut him up for a _very_ long time and you did it for me. Thanks Frostigi."

Frostigi glared at the full ghost then turned back to Danny. "I know that this is a lot to take in, but you gotta trust me on this. Tell me; have you ever heard of something called a _Familiar_?"

Danny nodded so Frostigi continued, "Did you know that if a ghost was powerful enough, they could have a _Familiar?_" Danny shook his head 'no' this time.

"Well," the boy started, "you won't hear it from anyone other than us _Familiars_ or Clockwork, but all halfas have one; they're just not usually supposed to know about us until it's the right time. However, because of recent events, I've had to reveal myself to you. FYI, Vlad is close to figuring out what I am so, do **not** tell him anything I'm telling you." Danny nodded in agreement. If Vlad knew more than he already did, it could be disastrous.

Suddenly, something clicked for Danny. "So, since my name is also on that book, that means you're my _Familiar_! Wait, I thought _Familiars _were animals?"

Frostigi laughed and said, "Well, we can be animals or humanoids. I, as well as the others, can be a book, an animal or a humanoid. Didn't you pay attention when your sister was talking about this?"

Danny blushed. He hadn't really been listening all that much. "Ok, but then why are you… you know… a book?"

"Safety precaution," Frostigi stated like it was obvious. "In case someone who isn't meant to have the book, a.k.a. not a halfa, suddenly has one of us in their hands. We only work for the halfas. Our centre gems are the locks to the books and won't open unless used by one of you. But there's a difference when the owner and other halfas try to open us."

Danny gave a questioning glance and Frostigi continued, "When any other halfa opens the book before the owner gets a chance to open it, we'll just say what we want as writing on the page. When the owner of the book _does_ finally open their book with their own energy, we gain the ability to turn into our true forms; an animal and/or humanoid. We can choose to switch between the two forms. We can also revert to a book if we have to."

Danny's eyes brightened and he said, "Besides the fact that I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment, I have to say that this is pretty cool. Um… if you don't mind me asking, what animal are you? Also, how do I leave here?"

Frostigi brightened as well and replied, "I can help you return to the real world after you answer a question or two. As for my animal… I'm a badger; a _Little Badger_ to be precise."

Danny wanted to face-palm right there and then. Dan couldn't stop laughing and Danny didn't blame him. Vlad had been calling him _'little badger'_ for almost a year now and Danny thought he was just being a fruitloop. He wasn't expecting this.

Danny turned back to Frotigi, whose tail was moving back and forth in anticipation. Danny sighed and said, "Alright, Frostigi. What do I need to do in order to leave?"

Frostigi's tail stopped moving and he seemed to sadden a bit. "Like I said, you need to answer some questions."

"So, what are they?" Danny asked.

Frostigi's expression grew serious as he said, "First, how many 'you-s' have you encountered while here?"

Danny thought about it; he had seen Phantom first, then he met five others in the living room, four in the armoury, and then finally the three evil 'him-s'. That made a grand total of thirteen 'Danny-s'. Danny was about to answer when he thought things through again. Maybe _he_ counted as one of the 'Danny-s'. And what about Frostigi? Wasn't a _Familiar_ another form of the owner? If that was the case and he added this to his total, then he actually had met fifteen 'him-s'.

Danny looked at Frostigi and then the other 'Danny-s'. He took a deep breath and said in a firm voice, "Fifteen. I have met fifteen versions of myself while here."

Frostigi smiled and said, "You got it right. You've seen the same number of 'you-s' as your age! Next question: which version of you do I most represent?"

Danny smiled and said, "The ninja me. Your outfit says it all, especially since I was a ghost when I was in the ninja form."

Frostigi clapped and said, "Two for two! Last question: why do you think you've met all these different versions of yourself?"

Danny gulped; he was hoping for another easy question. The hybrid closed his eyes and started to think. Why **did** he meet all these versions of himself? What was the perpose? He had seen human versions and ghost versions of himself. He had seen past present and future. He had even seen hybrid, full ghost, _Familiar_, good and evil.

They were all him. They were. All him. They. Were. All. HIM! That was it! Danny opened his eyes and smiled. He stared at the _Familiar_ and said, "I met all these different versions of myself to remind me that they are all me and that I'm not me without any of them."

Frostigi looked at Danny and smiled. "Congratulations!" the boy was bouncing off the walls as he spoke.

Danny chuckled and stood up. Frostigi landed in front of him and said, "I can take you back now if you want?"

Danny nodded and in a flash of green the two were gone from the space, leaving all the other versions of Danny behind.

* * *

Danny woke up with a gasp as the events that just happened in his head came back to him. He looked around for a minute before dozing off again into a dreamless sleep.

The soft white glow that had surrounded him and the book, Frostigi, was gone but the book looked different now. It had a healthy and strong glow; its gems were all as vibrant as they could be, and if someone was to look very carefully into the centre gem, they would see a small form of a badger sleeping happily in the green energy.

Danny sighed and turned onto his side, not even noticing the man that just walked in.

Vlad was tired and annoyed. Jasmine had called that morning to tell him that she and Daniel's friends were going to be arriving today. He didn't want to be the one to tell them that Daniel had yet to wake-up. Really, he didn't want to speak to any of them; except maybe Jasmine. He could at least stand her long enough to explain the situation.

Vlad had spent the morning prepping himself for their arrival. He had three guest rooms made up for them in case they stayed for a while. He told his staff that they were well acquainted with ghosts and knew how to capture any if they decided to attack. Then again, his staff managed to chase them away when they had tried to find Daniel all those months ago.

Needless to say though, Vlad was not in the best of moods. He hadn't even gone to check on the younger hybrid because he was trying to prepare his home for his, honestly unwanted, guests.

Vlad rubbed his temples as he made his way up to the boy's room. He swore he could make this journey with his eyes closed by the number of times alone that he made his way up here. As he walked, Maddie watched him. When she lost sight of him, she followed with soft steps.

When he came to the door, he stopped himself. The billionaire leaned his head on the door and closed his eyes. He really just wanted the boy to wake-up. He had so much to ask him. He wanted to know what had happened the night he was captured since Skulker was too afraid to show his face to the older hybrid without Daniel being able to protect him from the man's wrath. He wanted to know what those idiot government agents had done to the boy.

He also thought that the younger hybrid might know the answer to mystery of the books. What were they? Where did they come from? What did that message on the ice cave wall mean? So many question and yet he had no answers. He was hoping Daniel could somehow show the way; light up the path like he had with the Order's Crystal.

Vlad opened his eyes and looked down at Maddie. He smiled a small smile and said, "how about we take a look at our ward, hmm?"

Maddie meowed in response and Vlad opened the door. When he opened it, he saw **and** heard something that he hadn't in what felt like a long time. He heard the young hybrid sigh and then watched him turn onto his side before falling asleep again.

Vlad blinked before he raced towards the slumbering boy and looked him over. Somehow, Danny looked better than he had in days. His skin tone had life back in it again; his raven locks of hair had a lush sheen back in it.

Vlad took his temperature and heartbeat. They came up as the usual for his hybrid state; both being slightly lower and slower than the average human.

Vlad was stunned. _"How did this happen; and overnight no less,"_ Vlad thought. He looked over the boy again and found that even some of his more life threatening wounds was beginning to heal and leave pinkish scars. As he was checking the younger hybrid, his gaze landed on the books, but more specifically, Danny's book. It looked like a million bucks, and Vlad should know since he's seen that.

It was beautiful, just beautiful. Vlad thought that if Ghostwriter saw this book, he would try and keep it for himself. Vlad picked up the book and looked it over again before he paused on the centre gem. There was something different about it. Well, that was obvious since the whole book looked like a completely new item.

No, but the centre gem was definitely different. He looked closer and saw something more within the green energy. He watched it for a few more seconds until a figure formed inside the gem and gazed at him with glowing green eyes.

Vlad nearly dropped the book. He wasn't expecting that. Vlad looked at it with a more critical eye and saw something that he could have sworn he'd seen before. Then it clicked for him; the figure looked like a badger, no, it was a badger! The figure was a badger! _"Why is there a badger in Daniel's book?"_ Vlad wondered.

The sudden movement of the younger hybrid made Vlad jump. Danny had turned back towards the man, his arm falling off the bed. Maddie moved forward and began brushing against the boy's hand. Vlad smiled, but not because of Maddie. Ok, partially because of Maddie. Her actions caused Danny's hand to twitch and made him mumble something that Vlad couldn't make out.

Danny was healing and it looked like the book, no, Frostigi had also healed. It was only a matter of time before Daniel woke up. Vlad decided to just change the bandages and let the boy rest instead of giving the boy a needle like the last couple of times. He doubted that he needed to do that anymore.

He changed and discarded the old bandages and stood up to admire his work. What he didn't count on was being met with a pair of blue eyes watching him. Vlad and Danny stared at each other, neither one knowing what to say to break the ice.

Danny opened his mouth to say something when Maddie jumped up onto the bed and meowed happily to the boy. Danny closed his mouth and stared at the cat before he smiled and started to pet the animal. _"How long has it been since I've seen you?"_ Danny thought.

Vlad let out his breath. He hadn't even known he'd been holding it. "Daniel," Vlad said. Danny looked up at him with a curious gaze. "I know you just woke up and probably have a million questions about what's going on, but I need you to tell me a few things."

Danny nodded, so Vlad continued, "Tell me, what do you remember? And how do you feel?"

Danny opened his mouth again and tried to speak, but found that he couldn't. He clutched his throat as a burning/choking pain became apparent in his throat. When it settled down to a dull throb, Danny frowned and thought, _"Well, this is new; and totally not wanted!"_

Vlad notice the gesture and left the room. When he came back he held a cup of ice water. He gave it to Danny who took it graciously and savoured every drop. The cool water travelled down his abused throat alleviating the pain, if only slightly.

When he finished, he tried again, but came up with the same results. Vlad frowned. Daniel couldn't speak for some reason, which meant that Vlad's questions would go unanswered.

Vlad took a seat by the bed again and Danny gave him an apologetic smile. Vlad ruffled the boy's hair and said, "Oh, don't worry my boy. It's not your fault that you can't speak."

Vlad paused and said, "Actually, it might."

Danny looked at him curiously. _"What does he mean it might be my fault?!"_ Danny thought. The book in Vlad's hand suddenly shook and Vlad lifted it up. Danny saw it and realised that it was his book. He immediately hid his surprise. He could let Vlad know he knew something.

Vlad let his energy enter his hand and flow into the centre gem. Danny watched as the book reacted and opened for Vlad. Vlad looked at the book and said, "Hello, Frostigi. What do you want since it's obvious that you wanted my attention?"

**Hello **_**Vlad**_**. I just want to say that I could help Danny speak. Just give him me for a second so I can speak with him.**

Vlad reluctantly complied and said, "Daniel, this book's name is Frostigi. And before you ask, this is one of the missing books that I know you've heard about. Frostigi thinks it can help you tell me what happened if you're willing to give it a try?"

Danny nodded and Vlad handed him the open book. Danny looked down at the book and mentally asked, _"Is… is it really you, Frostigi?"_

The book seemed to smile as it spoke. **Of course it's me. Who else looks as good as me when a book?**

Danny smiled down at the book. _"So, Frostigi can also read my thoughts. This could be handy."_ Danny thought.

**Yeah it will be! You think it and I'll write it down in my pages.**

Danny nodded and thought/said, _"Let's do this."_ Danny motioned for Vlad to come over to him and look at the book. Being the curious man that he was, Vlad complied and moved from his seat to the edge of the bed. Danny pointed at the book and Vlad saw what he wanted him to see. The book was telling Vlad the aspects of Danny and Frostigi's plan.

**Danny is going to think out what he remembers and I'm going to make his thoughts appear on the page. Does this work for you?**

Vlad smiled. He knew that Frostigi and Daniel had some sort of connection but he never thought that they would be connected like this. Vlad nodded and Danny smiled at Vlad and then Frostigi. As he stared at the page and thaught out what he wanted to say, his words began to appear before him.

_**What I remember is waking up in my living room after having my ghost sense go off. Turns out it was Skulker and he was also looking for these books since he was given the job of retrieving them for Frostbite and… another friend of mine. He and I made a temporary truce so that we could work together to find them.**_

_**As soon as we made the truce though, the Guys in White attacked. We were doing pretty well until they separated us. I saw one of them fire into Skulker's blind spot so I tried to save him. Stupid 'hero complex'… argh FROSTIGI! You weren't supposed to write that. Great, a book with attitude.**_

Danny huffed in the bed and Vlad just continued to smile. He was trying real hard not to laugh at the younger's predicament.

_**Anyways**_, Danny continued, his face turning bright red, _**I did manage to save Skulker, but I got hit instead. Because of that I got captured. Skulker flew away and I don't know where he went. To get help I suspected. If it was between me and him getting captured by the GiW, I was the better choice. I would have lasted longer than any of the other ghosts.**_

Vlad nodded. "Yes, Daniel. Skulker did indeed get help. He came to me and told me what happened as soon as he could."

Danny's eye's widened in surprise. He hadn't thought that Vlad was the one to save him. Then again, it would explain why he was in the guy's mansion/castle.

_**Ok. After that, I woke up in one of the facility's rooms and they started doing tests on me. It started as simple things like temperature and DNA, but then it moved onto things like my powers and abilities. The final time they came to bother me about in my cell was… not fun. They strapped me to a table and this guy… Agent… something… Agent se… Agent C! That was it. A guy named Agent C brought out this weird machine with a black liquid in it. He took this gun-like thing and shot the liquid into my core… after that, everything is a blank.**_

Vlad frowned. This Agent C said a similar thing to him when he first came upon the room. Danny looked up at the billionaire with worried and innocent eyes. Then, more words appeared on the page.

_**Vlad… what happened? What happened to me after that?**_

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He tried to think of a way to explain without the teen freaking out. Finally, the older hybrid said, "When I arrived at the facility, I went to look for you, but instead I found one of the main offices. I deleted any and all information I could find concerning you." Vlad left out the fact that he kept some of the information for himself. "Shortly after that the building shook and I didn't know why. I made it to where you were being kept and saw something unusual."

Vlad paused and looked Danny in the eye. "Daniel," he started, "Do you, by chance, have the power to make things explode?"

Danny raised an eyebrow and then shook his head 'no'. Vlad scratched his beard and said, "Well, when I got there, balls of _green_ energy was destroying everything in sight. I believe it was your energy since when I calmed you down, the energy balls stopped appearing."

Danny's eyes widened and the words_** 'I have a new power?!'**_ was written in the book before the words disappeared.

Vlad nodded and said, "It would seem so. Whatever that black liquid was, it seems to have brought forth this new ability in you. Anyways, when I got into the room, I told the GiW to turn off the machine, but it exploded because of the energy everywhere. When he was blown back, I destroyed the machine and removed any lingering electricity coursing through your system. After that, I got you out of there along with all three books. It's been three days since I brought you here and Frostigi only first spoke to me recently."

When Vlad had finished, he watched the younger hybrids reaction carefully. Danny was in deep thought over everything he just heard. Vlad had saved him, destroyed all information on him, rescued the books which meant he had saved Frostigi and the other _Familiars_, and now, he was helping Danny recover. The main question now was: Why?

Danny turned his attention to Vlad and had Frostigi ask for him. Vlad smiled and said, "Why? I think the better question, dear boy, is why not? Didn't I tell you back at that clock tower in Amity that I would push everything aside if I needed to help you?"

Danny blushed. He had remembered; he just didn't know if Vlad was actually going to uphold what he said. Vlad ruffled the boy's hair again and stood. He started to walk towards the door when Danny grabbed the corner of the man's suit. Vlad turned and gave a questioning look. Danny pointed to Frostigi.

Vlad looked at the book and read. _**Vlad, were you expecting company?**_

"Yes, why do you ask?" Vlad asked.

'_**Cause I think they're here.**_

Vlad raised an eyebrow when he heard a knocking on the door. Danny let go of Vlad and watched the man leave asking himself how the boy knew. Danny sighed and looked at the constellations on the ceiling. _"I guess Sam, Tucker and Jazz are here. Otherwise I would have never felt them,"_ Danny thought.

Frostigi glowed brighter and Danny looked at the page that was open.

**Hey, Danny. I don't know when will be a good time, but when are you going to unlock my ability to **_**not**_** be a book? Not that I'm not comfortable and all, but I would like to be able to be my animal or humanoid self.**

Danny sighed. _"I don't know, Frostigi. If Vlad is as close to finding out what you are as you say he is, then why don't I just do it at any time?"_

**He may be close, but I don't want him knowing how to unlock our abilities. If that happened, then he would do it for his own book/**_**Familiar**_** before he's meant to. Clockwork would have my head if that happened. Do it when he's not around. If he sees me in my true form, tell him that I just decided to change forms. Don't tell him that you helped me do it.**

Danny nodded. _"How about tonight then? I'm pretty sure Vlad will go to sleep and then I can do it without him knowing that I somehow helped."_

Frostigi shook with joy. Danny smiled. He had a feeling that the badger would like that. Danny face-palmed. _"God, I just thought something that Vlad would say. I need to spend less time near him," _Danny thought.

Just then, he heard his door open and in piled his friends, sister, Vlad and… TJ? What was his dog doing here? The new arrivals took one look at the bedridden boy and said, "DANNY!" with all the joy they could muster; and that was a lot. TJ was so happy that he ran past everyone before they could grab him and he jumped onto the bed. He lay down next to Danny and barked happily. Maddie hissed at the Dalmatian for disturbing her before she lay down next to him and fell asleep again.

Everyone stared for a moment at the two animals lying next to Danny. They didn't expect them to get along, but here they were, sleeping side by side with one another. Danny smiled and pets both of them before he turned to everyone else and smiled at them.

Jazz smiled and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Danny knew what was about to happen; Jazz, Sam and Tucker were going to bombard him with questions. Honestly, he really wasn't in the mood to do so; he was still recovering and that meant he was really tired.

Danny stared at Jazz and the pointed to the book in his hands. Jazz didn't know why he wasn't speaking, but moved closer so she could see the pages. At first they were blank and she couldn't understand why her brother was showing it to her, but then words began to appear on the page and her eyes widened.

_**Hi Jazz. Um… sorry, but I can't speak for some reason. Vlad hasn't told me why, but it sounded like I did a lot of screaming at one point and it must have done some damage. So, since I can't speak, can we leave the questions for later? I'm kind of tired.**_

Jazz looked from the page to her brother and sighed. She really wanted to know what was going on and what had happened to him, but she guessed it would have to wait. "Ok, Danny. We'll talk later," Jazz said.

Sam and Tucker gave a look. Sam asked, "Why not now? What happened?"

"Danny can't speak at the moment and he wants to go to sleep. Though I'm not really all that surprised; it is getting late," Jazz stated.

Danny looked at the clock and found that it was almost 8:00 pm. _"When had I woken up?"_ he asked himself. Danny watched as Vlad left the room saying something about rooms being prepared for them if they planned on staying a while, while Sam and Tucker followed, but not before giving him one last look that said '_we'll talk later and you're not getting out of it so easily next time_'.

Jazz stood to go too, but Danny stopped her like he had Vlad. Jazz looked down at her brother before she returned to her seat next to him. Danny looked at the blank page and mentally asked, _"Hey, Frostigi. Could Jazz be here when I release you from this form?"_

Frostigi thought about it before he said, **Sure. I don't see why not. Just as long as she keeps the same promise you have.**

Danny nodded and held the book up to Jazz so she could see what he wanted to say.

_**Jazz, come back to my room when everyone else is asleep; I need to tell and show you something and I don't want everyone else to know about it. Ok?**_

Jazz smiled and whispered, "Sure. I'll come around when I can. Also, make sure TJ doesn't hurt the cat. I'm going to try and convince Vlad to let TJ stay with you while you're here. You know he's the family's secret eyes and ears."

Danny made a soundless chuckle and watched as his sister left the room. All he had to do now was to wait for her to return.

* * *

**Phantom: Hey, glad that you got to the bottom. Was that great or what? Danny has a weird dream, meets himself multiple times, wakes up, has a nice little chat with Frostigi and Vlad and then has Sam, Tucker and Jazz arrive.**

**Trainer: you left it at a cliffie again. Why? Now Danny has to wait till the next chapter.**

**Phantom: yeah, about that. This was a really long chapter so I split it in two. They have two different titles, but they were originally one chapter. But don't worry because I'm posting the next chapter really soon after it.**

**Trainer: oh well that's ok then. So I guess that means we'll see you all at the next chapter.**

**Phantom: yes they will. See you all next time and tell us what you thought of the chapter!**

**Trainer: yeah, tell us what you think!**

**Phantom: and stay tuned for chapter 12!**


	12. Chapter 12: Unlocking Frostigi

**Phantom: Hey everyone. So this is the second half of that long chapter I was telling you all about. It's a little shorter and has fewer words, but it gets the job done!**

**Trainer: shut up. I want to read.**

**Phantom *glares* that's not very nice. Plus, don't you want to say something for today?**

**Trainer: yeah, could you take a look at my ghost pokemon?**

**Phantom: not that! I mean for a certain holiday?**

**Trainer: oh yeah. Let's say it together.**

**Phantom: alright, but only if Sam Manson gets to do it too.**

**All Three: HAPPY CHANUKAH!**

**Phantom: That's right all you other Jews out there; it's the first day of Chanukah and I'm so excited! Sorry, I forgot to say that in the last chapter.**

**Trainer: me too! I wonder what we'll get.**

**Sam: well, I just hope it goes better than my holidays had when Ghost writer appeared.**

**Phantom: don't worry, Sam. It'll go better. I promise. Anyways, let's get on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Unlocking Frostigi**

* * *

Jazz had gone to bed as soon as she reached her designated room. Vlad had given her a room on the second floor like Danny and himself. Sam and Tucker were put into some of the guest rooms on the first floor.

Jazz knew why; Vlad didn't trust them. Heck, he barely trusted Jazz! He probably would have put her in one of the first floor rooms too if it wasn't for the fact that she was in control of this situation involving her brother outside of the man's home.

*BEEP* *BEEP* BE-CLICK*

Jazz got out of her bed and grabbed a blanket. She had set the clock for 12:00 midnight. She was sure that everyone would be asleep by then, meaning she could move around without prying eyes.

She pulled the blanket close and slowly opened her door. She looked down both ends of the hallway and saw no problems. She moved out of her room and into the hall closing the door with a small click. She still couldn't get over the décor the billionaire had. He had, what, billions of dollars and he couldn't get a _good_ interior designer? She didn't know.

She just hoped that she was right in thinking that everyone was asleep; her turquoise pyjamas stood out too much in this dark hallway. She practically glowed in the dim lighting. Jazz smirked. Maybe this was how Danny felt when he tried to be sneaky in his ghost mode.

Jazz made her way through the halls to her brother's room. It wasn't easy. She had to check around every corner for Vlad or one of his staff, every shadow made her jump when she thought it moved, and she froze if even one footfall sounded or a floorboard squeaked.

After ten minutes of 'sneaking', Jazz made it to her desired room. She looked back and forth down the hallways again. The staircase was on one side of her and on the other side of that staircase was Vlad's room. She didn't want to get caught; it could mean more trouble for her and her brother.

Jazz took a deep breath and knock in her and Danny's code (the opening bass to the DP theme song). Danny repeated the knock and Jazz walked in.

Danny was still in the bed and Frostigi was on his lap. Danny pats the area next to him and Jazz went over to the bed. Sometime between now and the last time the two were in the room, Danny had gotten both TJ and Maddie to move to another section of the bed, leaving enough room for the two siblings to lie on the bed comfortably.

Jazz took a seat and looked at the book in her brother's hand. He traced the gold trim around the book. He only knew the little _Familiar_ for a short time, but he couldn't help it; he was attached. The boy he had seen in his mind had grown on him, like having a brother.

Jazz watched Danny as he traced his fingers over the book's design. She cleared her throat and whispered, "So, what did you want to tell/show me?"

Danny made a motion for her to watch him and she nodded. Frostigi had explained to him shortly after everyone left on how to open the book when it was closed since Vlad had always opened it before him.

Danny let the familiar feeling of his ghost core flow through his body, but stayed in his human form. No sooner than him brushing the surface of his ghost half did he feel his green energy come forth from his hand.

The entire room took on an eerie green tint as the energy grew brighter. Jazz had to squint; her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet since it was still dark out.

Danny moved his hand towards the book's cover and Jazz's eyes grew to the size of dishes. She grabbed his arm and hissed, "What are you doing?! Don't destroy that book; it looks like it could be priceless!"

Danny looked at his worried older sister for a moment before he pulled his arm away. He pointed to the book and then at himself. _"Jazz, I'm just trying to open it,"_ Danny tried to explain with hand motions and judging by her confused expression, he wasn't doing a very good job.

Danny face-palmed and dragged his hand down the length of his face with his free hand. _"I never get a break, do I?"_ Danny thought to himself.

Bringing his glowing hand back to the cover, Danny touched the centre gem before his sister could protest. He let his energy flow into the gem and watched as the glow around the book turned from white to green.

The book started to shake and Danny let his energy die. He was startled by the sudden movement and threw the beautiful artefact across to the other side of the bed. It bounced once and over the backboard at the foot of the bed.

Danny and Jazz cringed. Danny hadn't meant to throw the book to the floor; even if it was an accident. Both expected to hear a loud thump, but it never came. The two, instead, saw a puff of green smoke before they heard the soft sound of someone landing on the floor. Sort of like when someone jumped and then cushioned their landing by bending their legs.

They were about to peer over the edge of the bed, but stopped when they heard someone say in a hush voice, "Ow! Well, I wasn't expecting that. I didn't think you would _throw_ me."

Danny and Jazz watched as a boy with black and white hair, glowing green eyes and a ninja costume stood up and stretched. He looked at them and gave a smile that only a Fenton could make. He then waved at the stunned duo.

"Hi!" he said. "Good to see you Danny. Sorry about your voice and all, but I can't do anything to help that."

Jazz gaped and Danny smiled apologetically. Danny mouthed the words 'it's not your fault, Frostigi. Things happen.'

Frostigi nodded and held a hand out to Jazz and said, "My name is Frostigi. I was that book from earlier if you haven't already figured that out."

Jazz nodded and shook the boy's hand. "Um, Danny? Would you mind filling me in on what's going on and who is Frostigi?"

Danny sighed and looked to Frostigi for help. Frostigi got the message and smiled at the siblings. "I'll explain everything since Danny can't exactly speak at the moment." Jazz face-palmed; she forgot that Danny couldn't speak.

Jazz looked at Danny and saw his pleading look. The red-head sighed and said, "Alright. You can explain, but I want to know _everything_." She levelled her eyes with her hybrid brother and then with the new boy. Both gulped and nodded; neither wanted to upset the girl more than she already was.

Frostigi then began explaining everything; from what he was and how he formed to what had happened to Danny after the Guys in White captured him. When Frostigi had finished his story, Jazz looked at Danny with teary, turquoise eyes. She couldn't believe that so much had happened in the span of only a few days.

"Danny," Jazz spoke with a choked voice. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through all that. How are you feeling?"

Danny smiled and gave a thumb's up. He then grabbed his throat and made a pained face. Jazz knew what he meant to say; he was fine, but his throat hurt. Jazz hugged him and he returned it.

Jazz then turned back to Frostigi and said, "Thank you for watching out for my little brother, Frostigi. You're kind of like another little brother."

Frostigi blushed and looked away. "I-i-it was no problem. I've got to help where ever I can. He's my owner and I'm his _Familiar_."

"That reminds me. I did more research into _Familiars_ and the most common trait is that they have an animal form no matter what. So that makes me wonder; what animal are you?" Jazz asked while raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Danny shifted uncomfortably under the bed covers. He had a feeling she would eventually ask this, but he really wished she hadn't.

Frostigi took notice of Danny's behaviour and smiled mischievously. He turned to Jazz and gave her the same smile before he cheekily replied, "I'm a _Little Badger_!"

Jazz had to cover her mouth to prevent the loud laugh that so desperately wanted to escape. Danny glared at the humanoid while said humanoid did nothing but smile while his silvery-white tail swished back and forth.

When Jazz had finally gotten control of herself, Danny gave her a glare that said 'it's not that funny'. Jazz said, "Sorry, Danny. But it was funny, I couldn't help it."

Danny sighed and lay back down in the bed. Jazz watched him while Frostigi got up and walked into the closet. He then opened the stairs that dropped from the ceiling and moved up to the mini lounge. He felt that the two siblings could use some time alone, but that didn't stop him from hearing their voices.

Back in the main bedroom, Jazz watched as Danny tried to go to sleep. He didn't care that Jazz was still in the room, he just wanted to rest. Jazz continued to watch and felt bad for not being there for him. As she watched, she noticed how much trouble he was having.

She lay down next to him and Danny gave her a questioning look. Jazz smiled and said, "I'm surprised, Danny. Sam, Tucker, Vlad and I were all in your room and you didn't even notice the one thing that would have made you hide under the covers."

Danny raised an eyebrow and Jazz pointed to his body. Danny looked down and nearly fainted; he was naked except for his boxers and he had bandages covering him all over the place. He blushed and covered his face. He was definitely not getting to sleep tonight.

Jazz giggled and hugged her embarrassed brother. He relaxed into the hug and gave a small smile. Jazz returned it and then started to hum. Danny looked at her, a small spark in his blue eyes. Jazz stopped humming and said, "Oh, so you recognize that tune? That was a song that mom used to sing to us to help us sleep."

Before Danny could protest, Jazz started to sing a tune that Danny only heard when he was younger. He remembered that sometimes his dad would sing along too and on special occasions so would he and Jazz.

"_Your little hands wrapped around my finger_

_And it's so quiet in the world tonight_

_Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming_

_So I tuck you in, turn on your favourite night light_

_To you, everything's funny_

_You got nothing to regret_

_I'd give all I have, honey_

_If you could stay like that_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_Just stay this little_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_It could stay this simple_

_I won't let nobody hurt you_

_Won't let no one break your heart_

_No, no one will desert you_

_Just try to never grow up, never grow up"_

Danny started remembering his childhood. He was always the dreamer, always seeing things that no one else could. And he did have a favourite night light as a child; it was in the shape of a rocket. His dad made it for him using ecto-energy to fuel it and called it the _Fenton Specter Spooker_. Not the best name his dad had ever come up with, but it helped Danny sleep at night.

"_You're in the car on the way to the movies_

_And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off_

_At 14, there's just so much you can't do_

_And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots_

_But don't make her drop you off around the block_

_Remember that she's getting older, too_

_And don't lose the way that you dance around_

_In your PJs getting ready for school_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_Just stay this little_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_It could stay this simple_

_No one's ever burned you_

_Nothing's ever left you scarred_

_And even though you want to_

_Just try to never grow up"_

There was something about the chorus that always made Danny think of his sister. She always said she'd be the one to protect him, even when he had just been born. He'd never say it, but he wouldn't change his sister or anyone in his family, at all. It was kind of funny.

He had heard this song ever since he was little and now it seemed like the song was about him and his family. Before he got his ghost powers, he was embarrassed to be seen with his parents. His mom had dropped him off at the movies once by driving the _Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle_ or RV and told him that she loved him over the built in speakers. He apparently turned an interesting shade of red according to Sam and Tucker.

"_Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room_

_Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home_

_Remember the footsteps, remember the words said_

_And all your little brother's favourite songs_

_I just realized everything I have_

_Is someday gonna be gone_

_So here I am in my new apartment_

_In a big city, they just dropped me off_

_It's so much colder than I thought it would be_

_So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on_

_Wish I'd never grown up_

_I wish I'd never grown up_

_Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up_

_Could still be little_

_Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up_

_It could still be simple_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_Just stay this little_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_It could stay this simple_

_Won't let nobody hurt you_

_Won't let no one break your heart_

_And even through to you want to_

_Please try to never grow up_

_Don't you ever grow up_

_(Never grow up)_

_Just never grow up"_

Jazz finished singing and watched as Danny's eye's finally fluttered shut and he fell asleep. She brushed his bangs away and said, "Sleep well, little brother. I'll see you in the morning." Then Jazz snuggled down next to the slumbering boy and fell asleep next to him.

* * *

Frostigi was humming with no particular tune. He was happy. He was finally free to change forms at any time, Danny was in good hands and everything was going according to plan. Of course there was still much more that needed to be done, but it didn't have to happen immediately.

Frostigi's ears perked up when something caught his attention; there were no more sounds coming from the main room.

Getting curious, Frostigi went back to the main part of the bedroom. He looked around and found a very endearing sight. Jazz and Danny were asleep in each other's arms while TJ and Maddie were at the foot of the bed also asleep. Frostigi wished he had a camera on him so he could capture this moment.

With that idea in mind, the humanoid moved over to one of the bags that the group of teenagers had brought and started to rummage through it. Finally, he found what he was looking for; a camera. Turning off the flash, Frostigi aimed and took several pictures.

Pleased with his work, Frostigi put the camera back and moved towards the door. He considered opening it, but then someone might wake up. Instead, Frostigi looked back at the other beings in the room and smiled. _"I might have filled you in on what you asked, but that doesn't mean you know everything,"_ Frostigi thought before he turned intangible and phased through the door and into the hall.

"Time for a little exploring, 'cause when everyone's asleep, it's the badger's time to play," Frostigi said and walked down the halls.

After about an hour of exploring, Frostigi got bored and, more importantly, lost. Everything looked the same in this place. It was like a giant maze and unfortunately, he was the lab rat. Frostigi shook his head at the very idea. "I'm a badger, not a rat. There's a huge difference," he grumbled under his breath.

Frostigi looked around and then decided to phase through the floor. The whole time he had stayed on the second floor, but there was only so much one could do there. There were bedrooms and several other rooms that he wasn't interested in and he didn't even bother going down Vlad's hallway. That had Vlad's room, his study and several other places that the _Familiar_ was sure that if he was caught in one, then he might get into serious trouble. Like, 'having his tail singed' kind of trouble.

When he phased through the floor, he found himself in a living room. There were several armchairs and a very plush couch surrounding a coffee table. On the coffee table was a chess set made of carved emeralds and diamonds.

Frostigi picked up the emerald king and smiled. He didn't know how to play the game, but he did like the colour. I mean, who couldn't? It was emerald green and when you held it up to the moonlight, it made it look like it was glowing. It seemed almost ghostly.

Frostigi put the piece back and sat on the couch. He didn't even notice the pair of red glowing eyes watching him. Vlad had been woken up when his inner ghost sense went off. All of Frostigi's phasing had finally caught Vlad's attention. He thought it was Danny and was going to tell him to go back to bed, but instead he found… this intruder. Then again, Danny was in no physical condition to be walking anyways. Vlad doubted that the boy could even float let alone fly around the castle.

Vlad, as Plasmius, watched as the mystery boy sat on the couch and started to adjust his clothing. Who was this boy? How did he get into his home? Everyone in the Ghost Zone knew that Wisconsin was his domain and no one dared to intrude on his domain.

After Frostigi fixed his clothes, he got up and started to wander again. Plasmius followed him the whole time. Frostigi travelled to the screening room, which he found boring, the kitchen, a sitting lounge that he presumed was for the staff and finally, the ballroom.

Frostigi looked at the open space and smiled. "This room might be empty, but I need to do some practice anyways," Frostigi said.

Vlad raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. What was this boy talking about? What did he need practice with? And, once again, why was he in his house?!

Frostigi started to rummage through the objects in his belt and pulled out a small green cube. He pressed a button on it and tossed it across the floor. Within seconds, the little green cube transformed into a huge obstacle course of acrobatic equipment and uneven bars. Vlad was wondering how all that came out of a cube no bigger than his palm.

Frostigi jumped from foot to foot in excitement. "I haven't done this in a long time. Actually, this is the first time I get to do this in this form. I can't wait!" At first glance, Frostigi looked like a normal teen that had too much caffeine, but Vlad knew that wasn't the case. For one, the boy had a tail. Secondly, this boy was just too unusual to be a normal teen.

Frostigi got into a crouch and took a deep breath before jumping up and landing on a beam no wider than a few centimeters, but he seemed to have no problems when it came to balance. He ran along the thin beam before jumping this way and that. Vlad was amazed. It was so beautiful! The boy truly did look like a ninja doing all these actions and manoeuvres and the large windows let in more moonlight than any other room in the house. Overall, it looked like something out of a movie.

Plamius was in such a trance that it was only after he heard a grunt did he notice that the boy had landed on the highest point of the structure. He was sweating and breathing hard.

"Ok, I need to train more. I'm…so tired… right now," Frostigi stated. "One more thing before I call it quits for the night." Frostigi than stood to his full height and jumped several feet into the air before he started to fall. About halfway into his dive he flipped so he started to roll mid-air. When he touched the floor, he dove forward due to his momentum, rolled and then finished it off by doing a spring cartwheel and landing on his feet. It was almost perfect. It would have been perfect if he hadn't stumbled and lost his balance at the very end.

Vlad was impressed, and that wasn't an easy task. He was going to make himself known to the boy when Frostigi started to speak again. "That… wasn't easy. I'll just pack up… and then go to bed. Hopefully… Danny won't… have woken up yet." Frostigi then collapsed the structure back into a cube and pocketed the device.

The boy then started to leave the room, but stumbled and fell to the floor. Vlad cringed as he heard the soft thump, but nevertheless watched as the boy got back on his feet and began to move again. Vlad had enough of this. He was going to find out who this intruder was right now.

Vlad let go of his invisibility and flew in front of Frostigi. Frostigi was surprised and jumped back as a reflex. Vlad looked the boy up and down; he had to admit, he didn't look that bad.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" Plasmius asked, his eyes glowing fiercely and his fangs gleaming through the shadows.

Frostigi looked for a way out, but he was too tired. There was no easy escape and he knew it. Letting out a huge sigh, Frostigi looked up and said, "I wouldn't expect you to recognize me, Vlad. How could you when I look so different from when you last saw me?"

Plasmius gritted his teeth. "I'm not in the mood for riddles, boy. Now you have five seconds before a start blasting you into nothing but a puddle of ectoplasm."

Frostigi's eyes widened in fear. He knew Vlad wasn't joking when he made that threat. Heck, Vlad didn't joke when it came to threats! Frostigi took a step back and raised his hands I a surrendering manner. "Whoa, let's not do anything hasty," Frostigi said.

Plasmius glared and said, "One."

Frostigi gulped and said, "I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding if we just talk things out."

"Two."

"Um, um, uh… h-h-how about a-a-a hug?" Frostigi opened his arms in a hugging gesture.

Plasmius' eye flashed a brighter red before he said, "Three."

"Oh come on. This can't be the first time you've seen someone you don't know in your house?" Frostigi argued.

Vlad lit up his hand in pink energy and growled, "Four."

Frostigi just stared at the enraged hybrid. When he heard Vlad say, "FIVE." he jumped into action; his animal instincts kicking in. He started avoiding attacks left and right. He made a leap to avoid being hit by a pink lightning bolt only to have his tail grabbed and yanked backwards.

Frostigi yelped in both surprise and pain. If you've never had your tail pulled, then you wouldn't understand how painful it is. Frostigi turned and found that Vlad had teleported and grabbed him from behind.

He couldn't help it; he squeaked and had his tears spill over out over his face. Vlad stared on without changing his expression, but he felt guilty about pulling the boy's tail. Vlad shook his head. Why should he feel guilty about catching this intruder? He deserves to feel this pain, but something inside of Vlad was gnawing at him.

"Who. Are. You?" Vlad asked in a hush voice.

Frostigi wiped away his tears and looked back at the hybrid. "M-m-my name is F-F-Frostigi. Y-y-you were the one who carried me around when Danny was recovering." Frostigi tried to sound tuffer, but it ultimately came out more as a whimper.

Vlad was shocked. Was this really the same Frostigi, a little book that he saved from the GiW and argued with just days ago? Vlad looked over the boy again. True, he did see similarities between the book and this boy, but he had to be sure.

"If you really _are_ Frostigi, then answer me this," Vlad said. "What was the first thing you said to me?"

"Really? That's it? That's easy! I told you to not worry about Danny," Frostigi replied, his hopes rising.

Vlad nodded and released the boy's tail. Frostigi immediately grabbed his tail and rubbed it; it hurt from being abused like that. Vlad watched the humanoid before he asked, "Frostigi? How did you turn from a book into… this?" pointing at Frostigi's human form.

Frostigi gave a sly, but very tired, smile. "That's my little secret, Vladdy." Vlad scowled at the nickname, but watched as Frostigi tried desperately to stay on his feet. Just when Vlad was about to teleport back to bed, Frostigi's legs gave way and he started to fall. Vlad caught him just barely and looked at the tired boy.

"Ugh, wasn't expecting… that," Frostigi said before he blacked out. Vlad watched Frostigi for a few more minutes before he started to chuckle. Frostigi was an unusual being and full of so many surprises, but Vlad simply couldn't hate him, mush like how he could never truly hate Daniel.

Vlad picked up the unconscious boy into a bridal style and teleported to his own room. From the looks of it, Frostigi was just tired and needed rest. Vlad transformed back into his human form and placed Frostigi on a couch that was in his room. He pulled out a blanket and draped it over the slumbering boy. Frostigi curled into the blanket and let out a relaxed sigh, his tail going lip as he did so.

Vlad chuckled before patting the boy on the head and returning to his own bed. It was nearly 2:00 in the morning and Vlad was exhausted. He would find out what happened to Frostigi. He had a feeling that Daniel knew since he was the last one with the book, but that could all wait till tomorrow morning. For now, all the billionaire wanted to do was sleep. As soon as Vlad turned off his nightstand lamp, he was asleep.

* * *

Clockwork watched in his adult form as the most recent events in the timeline unfolded. Danny had woken up and Frostigi was released from his book form. Danny and Vlad may now know more to the puzzle, but Frostigi had been correct in thinking the two still didn't know enough.

Frostigi was meant to guide them in the right direction, but the little _Familiar_ always seemed to have his own way of doing things, much like Clockwork.

The time spirit turned from his viewing orb and called out, "Niane. I need to speak to you."

Within a few seconds, Niane appeared as her ghostly self in her maid outfit. "What is it, Clockwork? Did something happen?"

Clockworks expression stayed emotionless. "As you know, Niane, Danny's sister and friends arrived at Vladimir's castle today."

The young spirit nodded and said, "Yes. I was one of the few who saw them enter. What about them?"

"Keep an eye on them. They won't do any harm; just make sure that they don't get into trouble. Also, Danny has unlocked Frostigi," the time master said in his monotone voice.

Niane's eyes widened and she started to rant, "Frostigi? He's been unlocked? Why? It's too soon! Why did this happen, Clockwork? If Vlad finds out the truth-"

"Do not worry, Niane. Vladimir will not know about the truth for a while. Danny, Jasmine and Frostigi are the only ones currently who would tell him anything, and I doubt that they'll tell," Clockwork explained. "However, keep a particular eye on Frostigi from now on. Certain events made it important that he was released early, but he's still a prime target out of everyone there. Do you understand, Niane?"

Niane nodded. "I understand, Clockwork. What about the other books? What will happen to them?"

"They will be returned to their resting places in due time. For now, however, they will stay with your brother. I've seen the timelines; he will not bother with them since Frostigi will be occupying his time," Clockwork replied. A small smile graced his face as he turned from an adult into an old man.

"You planned for this to happen all along, didn't you?" the young spirit asked.

"I do not control what will and will not happen in the time stream. All I can do is… 'help' it be set on course," the time spirit replied.

Niane rolled her eyes and said, "alright, Clockwork. Are you going to check up on Danny? You know, not from your viewing orb?"

Clockwork turned to face the younger spirit and gave her a small smile. "Only time will tell," he said.

Niane chuckled and said, "I better go. Everyone will be up soon and I can't have Vlad wondering where his youngest maid is." With that, Niane disappeared from the room.

Clockwork sighed. He would check on Danny, but not now. It was not a good time for him to show up. Besides, the young hybrid would have his hands full with other guests within the next few days.

Clockwork turned away from the room. He travelled down more hallways until he was outside his tower, looking over the vast expanses of the Ghost Zone. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Who do you think will win this round, Koŝmaro?" Clockwork then returned inside to do his job; protecting the timeline.

* * *

**Second disclaimer: the song 'Never Grow Up' belongs to Taylor Swift.**

* * *

**Phantom: aw, I just love leaving you guys with questions. Keeps you guys interested in my story. Anyways, there you have it; Frostigi is not just a book anymore.**

**Trainer: what was with all that stuff with the singing?**

**Phantom: what? Don't you like music? I chose Taylor Swift's song because I find that I can relate a ton of her songs to DP. I just love it!**

**Trainer: right. Well, we've got some sad news.**

**Phantom: it's so heart breaking for me. This will be the last chapter until after my exams. Also, my schedule seems to be pretty much booked for over the break, so it will be hard for me to update like I said I would. Sorry about that everyone!**

**Trainer: anyways, lots more to come. Just keep a look-out in case we do update. Until then, we'll see you later.**

**Phantom: Also, I forgot to mention. Danny's sore throat idea was inspired by my recent events with my own throat. I got sick or something and it was horrible. But it makes it easier to write about what it feels like. Don't worry; he'll get his voice back soon. So, please tell us what you think of this most recent chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13: Big Bang Boom

**Phantom: HEY EVERYBODY! I'm glad to say that my exams are officially over… oh, as well as Trainer's. **

**Trainer: Grr! **

**Phantom: She finished on Friday while I had finished on Thursday. When you have to deal with so many equations like I did, you might ask yourself if you've gone completely mad/crazy.**

**Trainer: And the answer is? Drumroll please.**

***cue drumroll***

**Phantom: The answer is… yes. I mean, no. I mean, ugh. Let's just say that it is SUCH a headache.**

**Trainer: Agreed. Exams are a pain. I really do hate them.**

**Phantom: I know! Hey, readers! Did you know that if you have a scientific calculator, you can actually type in '**_**Damn Exams**_**!'? I figured that out back in middle school.**

**Trainer: It's really funny when you show it to a friend right before you enter an exam. It sort of… lightens the mood.**

**Phantom: So other than exams, we've also dived into our Chanukah gifts. So far, we've played/beat **_**Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure**_** and Trainer played/beat **_**Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask**_**. I personally loved the first one. Music, dancing, Sly Cooper style and more; what more could you ask for in that kind of game?!**

**Trainer: I liked both games. We also got **_**Epic Mickey: the power of 2**_**. Dibs on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!**

**Phantom: You can have him. I prefer Mickey Mouse anyways.**

**Trainer: Enough talk! On with the celebratory end-of-exams chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Big Bang Boom**

* * *

Everything was quiet, and that's how this particular being liked it. It helped him think when trying to dive into his past. He only ever saw snippets here and there, but other than that, he saw nothing. His only company being himself and his guardian; no, that wasn't right, that man was more like a master than a guardian. Sure, he taught him, healed him, and did almost anything involving taking care of another person, but he also punished him for in-completing tasks or talking back or any other number of things.

In truth, this being was actually quite lonely, but he could never understand why. It felt like he was missing something; like there was a hole in his life. The only thing that made him forget about that painful hole was to occupy himself, usually by doing his master's biding.

Speaking of doing his master's biding, where were his scouts? They should have been back days ago.

The being stood from his perch on, what appeared to be, an old archway and scanned the green, black and purple atmosphere. He was looking for something in particular; something blue with a faint tint of red and green.

It had been several days since he had sent them out to search for any clues as to where those blasted books were. Those idiotic hunters in white had managed to… graze his arm. Because of this though, he ended up dropping the books into their hands. The worst part was that it had been enough to anger his master, who promptly lashed out at him. He had managed to break his arm, so any searching he needed to do had to be done by his little pets.

Koŝmaro stayed where he was, looking out into the hidden part of the Ghost Zone, waiting for the little creatures to return. A few minutes of staring later made Koŝmaro very bored. He didn't know a lot about his past other than that he was a magician, had been with his master for as long as he could remember (which wasn't that far) and that he had died as a young adult at about the age of 25. That being said, he was still not the most patient being in the world. He was about to head back into the castle behind him when he saw something glint in the distance.

It was a group of blue beings; half of them looked to be humanoid with red, pupil-less eyes and glowing green claws while the other half being small mouse-like creatures that were about the size of puppies with the same red eyes.

All of them gathered around him while one of the smaller creatures jumped into his good arm and then onto his shoulder. This one was… different. It had a slightly different colour; it had a more purplish hue to it, like if his powers were to surround the small creature. It was also the only one that ever seemed to know when he needed company and was more than willing to give it to him. Koŝmaro let a small smile grace his lips. He wouldn't tell anybody this, but he appreciated the creature and what it did and he was certainly not going to let his master know.

Right then, one of the clawed humanoids tugged at his waist cloak. It then said something that sounded like gibberish, but to the young magician, it was purely English. He then narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you sure?"

His answer was another round of unusual sounds. "Hmm, this was unforeseen. I didn't expect those ghosts to send someone to search for those books so soon," he mumbled to himself.

This time, the creature on his shoulder said something into his ear and his eyes widened. "What! What do you mean that the books have already been taken from those imbecilic humans?!" Koŝmaro yelled.

The small blue being shrank under his piercing gaze and squeaked out a response. Koŝmaro sighed and said, "Well who has them then? And more importantly, how did they get them?"

This time, all of the creatures started calling out responses and by this time, Koŝmaro had had enough. "QUIET!" he yelled. Pointing to the closest humanoid he said, "You, answer my questions."

The creature started to fidget, but managed to find its voice. It explained how it had discovered that the hunter ghost was looking for the books, how he and the ghost child had come to a temporary truce, how the child had been captured and finally how the older half-ghost saved the boy and retrieved the books.

Throughout the explanation, Koŝmaro stayed silent, taking in every word. When the small creature finished he asked, "Do you, or any of you, know where they are now at this moment?"

Once again, the being on his shoulder spoke up and told him the answer to his question. "Wisconsin? Where the bloody hell is that? I can't just snap my fingers and make a portal to this _Wisconsin_ if I don't know where it is!" he raved.

Taking a deep breath he said in a much calmer voice, "Well, at least those hybrids have yet to discover the books' purpose, right? It's not like any have been released yet." He laughed at the very idea, but then frowned when he saw that none of the other beings were doing the same. "I am to assume that this is true, am I not?"

When all he got was complete silence he yelled, "I can't believe this! Why is everything that my master wishes coming apart?!"

The small creatures tried to calm him down, especially the one on his shoulder who was holding on for dear after-life with the way that Koŝmaro kept turning this way and that. Finally, one of the creatures said something that caught his attention and he turned towards them.

He pointed to the one in the middle of the group and said, "Say that again."

The creature complied with a shaky voice, but the simple sentences where enough to put that smile back on Koŝmaro's face.

"Wonderful! Well, wonderful for us. Go! Keep an eye on the hybrids and especially on little Frostigi. He could be useful in the future for negotiations," the magician said.

With that, the little creatures dispersed; all except the purplish-blue mouse-like being on his shoulder. Until his arm healed, he was stuck here at his home while his pets did his work for him. Letting out a tired sigh, Koŝmaro left the outer grounds of the castle and returned to his room.

He decided that he would take a nap and regain his strength, but first, he had to check something. Removing his gloves, belt, boots, cape and other such garments until he was in nothing but his pants and undershirt, he climbed into his bed; the small creature settled in right next to him. He turned his hand intangible and reached into the mattress. Pulling his hand back out, he held an old leather-bound book.

He opened it up to a blank page and with a flick of the wrist he held a quill. This was maybe the one thing he had found after his death from his past life; his diary/journal. It held everything that he had once been, but, unfortunately, it didn't help him remember who he once was completely; only partially. He gave a small smile and began to write.

_Dear Journal,_

_Today, my arm seems to have healed a little more. For some reason, it just didn't hurt as badly as it had the day before. Perhaps master did something without my knowledge? Either way, I am happy that the pain is subsiding. I can feel my strength returning too. That punishment master gave me along with the damage those hunter did left me drained of almost all my energy._

_I had another vision today. I have stopped telling master about it since he says a spell and I wake-up with fog covering my thoughts. What he doesn't know won't harm him, and more importantly, me. My vision was… different. It was of a young woman. She was smiling and laughing and calling out my name. Every time she did, my core fluttered. Whoever she was, I hope I have more visions of her. I somehow know that she's… important to me._

_Also, my scouts returned today. At last, some news from outside this cage of a castle. Apparently, that hunter ghost, what was his name? Ah, Skulker. That's it. Yes, Skulker managed to escape them in the Ghost Zone, but ended up leading them back to where the books were._

_The ghost child had gone to help the hunter retrieve them, but got captured in the process. I would have hated to be him. The older hybrid saved the child as well as acquired all three books that I lost. I don't know if I should be worried or not; the younger hybrid unlocked Frostigi. I doubt that he actually knows what Frostigi and the others are for, I barely know, but as long as they are in the dark, things can continue as planned; whatever that may be._

_I also heard that the young boy was injured. I don't know whether to sympathise, pity or laugh at the boy. He is in a similar predicament as me… but I think I will sympathise with him. He probably does not wish to be anywhere near the older hybrid, but has to rely on him, much in the same way that I do my master._

Koŝmaro paused in his writing. Did he really just write/think that? He looked over what he wrote and confirmed it with his own eyes. He just said that he didn't like, no, that he _hated_ his master! However, he had to rely on him to survive at the moment. Shaking his head, he banished these thoughts and returned to writing.

_Forget that last part. Until I am healed though, I must remain here. At least master hasn't tried to disturb me in my moment of peace. I… like it. I truly do enjoy this time away from him. Especially with this unusual scout by my side, perhaps I should name it. That can wait for another day._

_Signed, Koŝmaro._

Koŝmaro sighed contently and placed his journal back in his hiding spot. With one final glance at the little creature next to him, he turned off the lights, closed his gleaming red eyes, and went to bed leaving all his worries behind as he entered his master-less dreams.

* * *

Vlad had awoken the next morning and went through his normal morning routine. He took a shower, dressed in a stunning black suit, and pulled his hair back into his standard ponytail. Vlad was about to exit the room when something – or rather someone – caught his attention.

Frostigi was still lying on the couch wrapped up in a blanket. The only parts of his body showing were his fluffy tail and his head with its unusual coloured hair - which was in a total mess.

Vlad couldn't help but chuckle at the humanoid and how childish he could act. The billionaire walked over to the slumbering boy and ruffled his mop of hair while he gave an amused smile. It was at this moment that he truly saw the similarities between the humanoid and Daniel.

Making sure so as to not wake the boy, Vlad left his room to check on his other guests and – more importantly – Daniel. Phasing out of his room he made his way to Jasmine's room. If he was going to check on any of them, it would be the Fenton siblings first. Who knew what they could do if they put their minds to it.

He reached the oldest Fenton's room and knock. "Jasmine? Are you in there? I just came to… check up on how you were doing," Vlad said. When he got no reply, he tried again, "Jasmine, open this door this instant." A second round of silence was his answer. "Fine, have it your way. I'm coming in whether you want me to or not."

Vlad phased into the room to find it completely bare, but he knew that it had at least been used. The red-head's bag was on the floor and had been opened at least once while the covers on the bed were wrinkled and out of place. _"Jasmine had definitely slept here… but where is she now?"_ Vlad thought.

He left the room and headed to Daniel's. _"Perhaps Jasmine is already up and eating breakfast,"_ Vlad assumed.

When he arrived at his next destination, he didn't bother knocking or announcing his presence. He just walked through the door and surveyed the room. He paused on the bed expecting to see a slumbering teen, but instead of one, he found two.

Vlad was shocked of course. He didn't think he could, no, would ever see a moment where Daniel look so… so… much like his actual age. He had seen the boy fight ghosts, risk his life and several other things that most kids his age wouldn't even be able to imagine. However, he had also seen the teen act his age; he had seen the boy break-down and cry, ask for his help when he knew he couldn't do something and even watched him be stubborn and childish. This was just over the top however.

Daniel and Jasmine where asleep in the grand bed; Daniel was lying on his stomach with his head underneath a pillow while Jasmine was hugging the sleeping form of her brother. It really was a childish moment for the two teens considering that both didn't exactly act their age. It was, however, a very endearing sight.

He didn't want to ruin this for the two of them, but he would need the younger hybrid for what he intended to do today. He looked at the two teens for a few more minutes before deciding it was best to leave his plans for later. First, he needed to check on his other 'guests'.

Moving down to the first floor, he checked both rooms that Daniel's little friends were in. He didn't want to deal with the headache that he would undoubtedly get from trying to wake them, so he just listened to see if they were awake. He knew they weren't though when he heard even, slowed breathing coming from both rooms.

Satisfied that everything seemed to be in order this morning, the elder halfa made his way to the dining room. He moved over to an intercom in the wall and spoke into it, "George?"

Within a few seconds, he heard the voice of his chef. _"Good morning, sir. What would you like for breakfast?"_ the ghost chef asked.

"Hm, anything is fine, George. Be sure to prepare enough for our guests as well," he replied. _"Anything to stop them from assuming that I'm up to something,"_ he added mentally.

"_Right away, sir. Will those kids be joining you this morning or are you dining alone?"_ George asked.

Vlad was about to reply that he would be eating alone when Jazz and Danny - who was being supported by his sister - walked in. Vlad smiled slightly and said, "Bring in two more plates, George. I'll be waiting in the dining room."

Vlad turned from the intercom and made his way to his seat. Jazz had helped her brother into a chair and he gave her a thankful nod. Vlad turned to them and said, "Good morning, Daniel, Jasmine. I hope you slept well."

Jazz gave him an uncertain look, trying to determine if he had any motives. She couldn't find any though. _"Darn, he has too good a poker-face,"_ Jazz thought. "We slept fine, thanks," she replied.

Vlad nodded and noticed that she was dressed in her PJs still while Daniel seemed to have gotten into a pair of black sweat-pants and a loose white shirt.

In the next moment, Derek came in rolling a cart with three trays on it. He gave the first to Vlad who was sitting at the head of the table. He then moved on to the Fenton siblings who sat several seats away from the billionaire. He gave them their food, but handed something to Danny without anyone else noticing. Danny gave him a questioning look, but the butler just winked and left without a word.

Danny shrugged and decided that he would look at it later when he was alone, but first, breakfast. Vlad had already started eating and Jazz looked wary of whatever she would find under her platter. Danny gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder and she smiled.

Danny and Jazz lifted the lids off their dishes and found a stack of French toast with syrup, powdered sugar and fruit. Danny dug in happily. You would too if you hadn't eaten in several days. Jazz still wasn't sure, but seeing her brother eat the food encouraged her and she dug in as well.

"_I have to admit, Vlad's cook really does know how to cook, but mom's French toast is still better in my opinion,"_ Jazz mused as she ate.

"_I wonder how Sam and Tucker are doing. I haven't seen them since last night. Speaking of last night, where's Frostigi? He just sort of disappeared,"_ Danny thought as he stuffed another mouthful of food into his stomach.

The two siblings were so wrapped up in their own thoughts that when Vlad spoke, it startled them. "Daniel, when you're done here, I need to speak to you. Meet me in my study once you've finished."

As soon as he finished, the billionaire disappeared into a cloud of pink smoke.

* * *

Danny and Jazz had remained in the dining room even after they had watched Vlad vanish. They ate slower than before and were chatting about past events.

"Hey, remember when I first got in on the secret and how I wanted to help?" Jazz asked.

Danny started laughing, but silently. It's an odd sensation to laugh and not hear it. It was like the world was mute or something. Danny nodded and dried a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, that _was_ pretty funny. I'm probably a worse ghost hunter than mom and dad. Actually, that one time that you and mom went to that mother/son bonding trip that Vlad had set for you allowed me to better my hunting skills before you revealed your secret to me. I still can't believe that wore one of the HAZMAT suits!" Jazz exclaimed.

Danny silently laughed again. Wishing to voice his thoughts, Danny grabbed his napkin and looked for a pen. _"Why is it that every time I need an everyday object, I can never find it?"_ the hybrid thought.

Danny finally found a pen and wrote on the paper.

**Come on, Jazz. HAZMAT suits look awesome on our family. Take my ghost form for example. Back to the part where you were starting to hunt ghosts with me; how is it possible that you 1) captured me in the thermos? 2) Managed to make those horrible names for my enemies when they already had actual names? 3) Captured me in the thermos? 4) Have the _worst_ witty-banter I've ever seen? And did I mention 5) CAPTURED ME IN THE THERMOS!?**

Jazz read the note and scowled. "Danny, that's not very nice. Like I said, I'm sorry how that all turned out. I thought we were over that? Anyways, you know that I'm as good at naming things as mom and dad and that I don't… well…" she trailed off.

**Have a sense of humour because you're so uptight and such a spaz?** Danny supplied.

Jazz glared and said, "No! That's not what I was going to say!"

Danny did the mature thing and stuck out his tongue. Jazz blushed a shade of red, which caused Danny to silently laugh harder.

"Danny! You are so immat-, " she began, and was about to pounce on the laughing teen when Sam and Tucker came in, already dressed.

"Um… did we miss something?" Sam asked, seeing the future sibling battle that was about to commence.

Jazz and Danny shared a shocked look before blushing out of embarrassment and returned to their breakfast.

Sam raised an eyebrow and said to Tucker, "What's with them?"

"Got me," he replied. Walking over to the table, he and Sam took a seat and waited for their food to be delivered. Tucker finally noticed that the Fenton kids were still in their sleeping attire and couldn't stop himself from commenting. "Nice PJs you two. What, did you just come down here after you woke up?"

When both teens remained quiet and blushed even harder, the Techno-geek laughed. Danny glared, Jazz shifted uncomfortably and Sam hit the Techno-geek upside the head, effectively knocking his barrette off.

Ignoring his upset 'hey', Sam watched as the butler, Derek, returned to the room with two more plates of food. Danny, Jazz and Tucker didn't notice, but Sam saw the uneasiness in the butler's movements. _"Is he scared of us or is it that he just doesn't trust us?"_ Sam wondered as she began eating.

Part way into their meals, Jazz finished and excused herself so that she could change out of her pyjamas before Tucker could comment on them again. The three other teens nodded and continued with their meals.

Danny was just about done when Tucker spoke, "Dude, aren't you going to go change too? We _did _bring you some of your clothes with us."

Danny raised an eyebrow and shook his head 'no'. Tucker was about to ask his half ghost friend why not when Jazz came back in the room and said, "Danny, when you're ready, I'll help you to Vlad's study."

Tucker stared wide eyed and Sam started choking and coughing. Finally, she managed to choke out, "wait… WHAT! Why do you need to go the fruitloop?!"

Danny put his hands up in a calming gesture to the fuming Goth when she got into his personal space. Sam was about to go on a rant when Jazz spoke up again. "Sam! Calm down! As much as I hate to say this, but Vlad has actually done a good job of taking care of Danny, no matter how much of a fruitloop he is."

Danny nodded in agreement.

"And besides, I think he's only trying to help Danny heal faster. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think he'll let Danny go back to Amity Park until he's sure that Danny is _completely_ healed," Jazz continued.

This time it was Danny's turn to choke. Everyone saw this, but they expected this sort of reaction from him, so they paid it no mind.

Danny, on the other hand, had a million and one thoughts flying through his head. Jazz was right. Vlad wouldn't let him leave until he was healed. What if he got injured again or something else came up? Then how long would he have to stay here. He had a town to protect for ghost's sake! Then there were his parents. He had to be back before they did. And Vlad had to do the same or rouse suspicions as to why the mayor _coincidentally _decided to tend to his companies the same time that his 'old college buddies' left town for a while.

Suddenly, Jazz spoke, effectively bringing Danny out of his frantic thoughts. "Danny, come on. If we keep him waiting too long he might think something's up. Then who knows what he'll do?" she said.

Danny rose from his seat, but winced when he felt his stitches pull. Jazz saw him struggle and said, "Here, let me help you." Danny didn't stop her, but he felt a little embarrassed for not being able to protect her and instead she was protecting him.

Sam and Tucker quickly finished their food and said in unison, "We're coming too!"

Jazz was about to protest, but Danny shook his head and Jazz sighed in defeat. "Fine, you can come, but do not, under any circumstances, do anything that could get us all in a lot of trouble. Vlad asked for Danny and is probably expecting me since he saw me help Danny into the room earlier."

Sam and Tucker nodded, but the Fenton siblings could tell that it was done reluctantly. Danny almost laughed at the role reversal that had happened. Normally, he was the one who protected his loved ones, but now they were protecting him!

Jazz supported Danny and they walked to the billionaire's private study with Sam and Tucker hot on their heels. When they arrived, Jazz knocked on the door. Almost immediately, they heard a "come in" from the other side of the room.

Pushing the doors open, the four teens were greeted by the sight of the billionaire at his desk typing on his laptop. Danny remembered the time when he and Vlad went to Germany. Vlad left him in his office and told him not to leave the room. When Danny went on the laptop, he played a few rounds of solitaire, but quickly got bored. He then went to check up on his town, thinking Vlad hadn't blocked it like he had back in Wisconsin. He was wrong. As a sort of revenge, he delved into the older hybrid's files. His passwords were obvious and Danny doubted that the man had changed them.

Danny couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face. No one saw however, since his head was dipped down and his bangs covered his face.

Jazz helped her brother over to the sofa, and then turned her attention back to Vlad. "Alright, Vlad. What did you want to speak about with my brother?" she demanded more than asked – her eyes narrowing.

Vlad smirked at her attempt to look intimidating. He stood from his seat and walked over to the teens. All of them jumped except for Danny. Vlad stopped short and said, "It's not so much about us chatting at the moment, but more about my helping Daniel with his wounds; especially the one that seems to be his lost voice."

Jazz raised an eyebrow as if asking 'really?', but then Vlad added, "Oh, and I'm laying down some ground rules for the time being." Jazz rolled her eyes. _"Of course he is. There _always_ has to be a catch,"_ all the teens thought.

"Ok. So then how are you going to heal him?" Jazz asked - the slight undertone of challenge in her voice.

Vlad smiled his conniving smile and motioned for them to follow. He paused at the door and said, "First ground rule: I expect **no** trouble from any of you while you are here." He then looked down at Danny, who was giving his best innocent look. "Especially from you, Daniel," he added, his eyes flash red long enough for only the young hybrid to see.

Danny mentally scoffed, _"Who? Me? I wouldn't think of it. Fruitloop."_ Danny then flashed his eyes back in responce.

All the teens nodded and followed the man around the castle until they came to a greenhouse. As they entered, Danny heard Sam gasp. He always thought that she would like it if she ever saw it. And look, he was right!

There were plants of every shape, size, colour and even breed. Sam had to pause and look around. It was no surprise that she caught the curious eyes of Bennie and Jasper. Jasper made some hand motions to Bennie and he nodded. The two were about to return to their work when they saw Danny walking in the group.

They were excited to see the boy finally moving around, but they couldn't get close to him at the moment since 1) Vlad was there and probably didn't want them to disturb him and the teens, and 2) Danny friends and sister were being very protective at the moment. Who knew if they had weapons on them? In all reality, Sam and Tucker always had some small weapon on them - the wrist ray and lipstick gun respectively.

Instead, the two smiled and waved at Danny. Danny returned it and mouthed _'we'll catch up later'_ and the two ghosts returned to their duties.

Vlad continued to walk until he came to a second door to the greenhouse.

Sam leaned over to Tucker and whispered, "What do you think is behind that door?"

Tucker whispered back, "I don't know, but keep an eye out for anything that could, you know, jump out at us."

"Will you two stop? We're here for Danny's sake. I highly doubt that Vlad will try anything to harm Danny while he's in this state or to us because of my brother," Jazz hissed to them.

"You know that I can still hear you?" Vlad stated as he pushed the doors open. All the teens (minus Danny) shut up and stared ahead.

The group entered the new room only to find that it was actually colder and that everything was glowing with a ghostly aura. "Do not touch anything," Vlad said as he maneuvered through the rows of plants to the back.

The teens followed and passed many different ghost plants; one being a certain Venus flytrap that Danny remembered all too well.

_Danny's head tilted in pure bafflement when he began to hear a very familiar sound coming from the plant. "Is that thing…. purring?"_

_Vlad shrugged. "I suppose you could call it that. It produces the sound when it begins to settle back into its dormant state. Come here and touch it; you'll see what I mean."_

_"Uh, no, thanks," Danny said warily, not moving from his spot._

_Vlad smirked as he teasingly remarked, "Oh, Daniel, you cannot possibly be afraid of a mere plant, can you?"_

_"No!" the boy replied defensively, before approaching the man and the ghost plant._

_"With these types of spectral plants, you have to touch the underside of its feeding opening," Vlad began to explain, once the young half-ghost was beside him. "Raising your hand above it triggers its sensory receptors—its 'eyes'—and therefore, its defense response. And touching it on the upper side of its feeding opening will make it believe you are food. You just did both," the older hybrid ended, a smirk back on his lips._

_Danny briefly scowled at him, but then looked back at the plant. The red color had just about drained away from it, but it was still purring. With a bit of hesitation, the teen finally placed his hand against the plant's lower 'jaw'… And immediately feeling what the man meant, the teen looked up at him with an enlightened smile…_

The memory faded and Danny realised something. The reason he was even there in the first place was so Vlad could use some of the ghost plants to heal his throat like the first time around. The only differences where that he could barely stand up, his sister and friends were here and he could not speak at all.

Danny finally looked around the greenhouse and found that they were moving to the part of the room that held a certain little ghost plant that Vlad used to make his healing ointment. _"This can't be good"_ Danny thought miserably.

The group stopped at a table where Danny could see Vlad pulling on special gloves that had been lying next to the plant he just thought about. The younger hybrid grabbed his throat, remembering how the white substance that that plant created was _super_ cold and even painful for _him_ to experience.

Vlad prepared a leaf and said, "Daniel, come over here, would you?" Seeing the teen's reluctance, Vlad scowled and continued, "I'm sure you recall what this is, but I'm afraid that this is the best solution to your sore throat, just like last time. But I will warn you now; I'll have to hold it on your neck longer than last time because of the severity of the injury. So be prepared for the slight discomfort."

Danny's eyes flashed green in anger. He broke away from his sister's hold and started pointing a finger at Vlad while gritting his teeth. _"Best solution? I highly doubt that. I bet that it's just the quickest solution. And what do you mean by 'slight discomfort'? Last time it was unbearable and it had started because of you! You're the one who messed up by vocal cords!"_ Danny yelled with his thoughts, but Sam and Tucker weren't trying to connect with the younger hybrid and to Vlad, all he saw was a simmering teen.

All in all, no one really knew why Danny was so upset, except maybe Vlad, but he either didn't care or didn't notice.

Jazz put a hand on Danny's shoulder and he immediately calmed down. Still glaring at the billionaire, Danny moved forward and prepared for the worst. He pointed at his throat and mouthed 'make it quick'.

Vlad seemed to get the message and said, "Just imagine that you're outside in the snow, Little Badger."

Danny flinched at the name, but thought, _"Yeah, just me... outside in the snow… it the Arctic!"_

Danny moved into a position in the corner, slowing his breathing down. If he started hyperventilating, he would pass out and then Sam, Tucker and Jazz would freak. Then again, they might as well freak anyways since Danny was about to go through icy hell all over again.

"Danny? What are you-?" Jazz started, but stopped when she saw Vlad move towards her brother with a prepared glowing leaf.

Vlad placed the leaf in the palm of his right hand and then handed Danny something that looked a piece of leather. Danny looked at him with a curious gaze and Vlad explained, "Bite down on this."

Danny complied and put the material in his mouth. He was about to take a deep breath to calm himself, but Vlad grabbed his neck without a warning. The effect was immediate. Danny's eyes widened by the sudden contact with the ghostly substance and he was shocked for a moment by how cold it was. He almost forgot how bad it felt; almost.

He wanted to scream, but couldn't because of the material in his mouth and the fact that the only reason he was putting up with this was so he could fix his voice… again. He settled for biting the material and letting out a strangled whimper.

He vaguely heard his friends and sister shouting at the man to stop and trying to help Danny get away, but Vlad had apparently seen this coming and put up a shield to stop them.

Danny started crying tears of pain and closed his eyes shut. He just wanted the pain to stop. It felt like an eternity, but it probably only lasted a few minutes to complete the act. Danny didn't know how much more he could take. He needed a better outlet than biting down on this stupid piece of leather!

Suddenly, small balls of green energy started to erupt all around the teen and billionaire. Danny didn't know what was going on since he was more focused on the pain, but he heard several gasps and tiny explosions at random intervals.

"CHEESE DOODLES!" Vlad yelled, and then all hell broke loose.

* * *

_*At the exact moment that Vlad placed the plant on Danny…*_

Frostigi was fast asleep in Vlad's room, unaware of what was going on in the greenhouse. Well, that is until the moment when Vlad grabbed Danny's neck.

"Daaaahhhh!" Frostigi screamed as he felt an incredible cold spread throughout his entire body. He continued to thrash and scream even after he fell off the couch that he was sleeping on.

He paused for a moment when he heard several small explossions followed by a faint cry of 'cheese doodles'.

The little _Familiar's_ eyes widened when he realised what was going on and started running through the castle towards the sounds. "CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP !" Frostigi repeated over and over again.

He finally found his way to the greenhouse and burst through the doors. He looked around for any signs of someone being there and found Bennie and Jasper under one of the many tables holding Vlad's plants.

The _Familiar_ dove towards the two ghostly gardeners and rolled under the table. The two ghosts looked at the newcomer with a curious gaze and were going to demand who he was and why he was on their employer's estate when another blast went off and they shielded themselves from the impact.

Frostigi did the same, but then asked, "Have you seen a boy that goes by the name of Danny come through here? He has raven black hair, sapphire blue eyes, likes to make witty comebacks in the faces of his enemies?"

Bennie and Jasper's eyes narrowed. They didn't know who this being was or how he knew the younger hybrid, but they weren't going to tell him anything until they were sure they could trust him. So far, Frostigi ranked pretty low on that scale.

Another blast went off and all three shielded themselves. Frostigi gritted his teeth and said, "Tell me where he is! Do you want this place to start coming down?!"

Bennie and Jasper looked to one another as if having a silent conversation. Jasper made several hand motions that said _'maybe we should tell him. I don't know what's going on back there, but if he's going to help Danny, then let him.'_

Bennie sighed. He really hoped he was doing the right thing by doing this. "Danny, Master Plasmius and those other kids are in the back where the ghost plants are being kept. One moment, nothing is happening and the next, everything starts to shake and explosions can be heard from the room they're in."

Frostigi nodded and said, "Thanks! I'll hopefully get to explain everything later. Don't worry; I should be able to help Danny… if I don't get blown up first." With that, the young _Familiar_ ran out from under the table and towards the room everyone else was in.

He pushed open the doors and several things occurred at the same time. First, he felt a sudden rush of cold. Most would think that it was because the room was actually several degrees colder than the rest of the castle, but in reality, it was because another wave of chills was felt by Danny, therefor, Frostigi felt the unpleasantness too.

Second, several balls of energy exploded right in front of Frostigi. He had no time to react and was only able to wait for the scorching boom, but it never came.

The third thing was that around the green energy appeared a pink shield. The _Familiar_ knew immediately whose shield it was and was grateful to the older hybrid. Frostigi didn't know how the man knew where the energy had been in the first place, but he realized that every time a green explosive ball appeared, so did a solid pink shield that would capture the blast and prevent any damage to the area's surroundings.

After getting over the initial shock, Frostigi ran through the room until he found the two hybrids and three other teens. Sam, Tucker and Jazz were hiding under a table like Bennie and Jasper had before. Danny was pressed into a corner biting down on the leather and gripping Vlad's forearms like his life depended on it. Vlad, on the other hand, was trying to keep his right hand on the boy's neck while using his other hand to create the shields.

Frostigi walked over to the group and everyone turned to look at him. The three teen's stared wide eyed while Vlad raised an eyebrow before his attention was brought back to another energy ball. Frostigi moved fast and created a sword from his powers that looked like the one that Danny had used that one time he was a ninja.

The little _Familiar_ ran forward and sliced the energy, effectively dispersing it without the explosion. Vlad wanted to ask how the young boy had done that and what he was about to do, but he was too busy preventing his greenhouse from being blown sky high.

Frostigi saw that Vlad was still holding Danny's neck and yelled over the explosions, "Vlad, you cheese head! Let go of Danny's neck!"

Vlad's eyes flashed red at the insult, but complied. He let go of the younger hybrid's neck and Danny slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. The energy still kept coming though. Vlad focused all his attention on his surroundings, but saw Frostigi move towards the unresponsive teen.

"What are you doing, Frostigi? Now is not the time to check on Daniel. If you haven't noticed, his powers have started acting up again!" Vlad shouted.

"I know, I know, but I think I know what to do to stop it!" Frostigi shouted back. "Danny's in immense pain and discomfort from that… what was that anyways? It was sooooo cold. Anyways, we have to calm him down somehow."

Vlad turned to the Familiar and said, "I think I might know how todo that, but I need you to get those three out of here." Vlad pointed to the other teens and Frostigi nodded.

"You can count on me," he said and then moved over to the group explaining that they needed to leave the room and that he would provide cover.

Vlad watched as they left and then made three duplicates that would deal with all the explosions. The real Vlad moved over to the fallen hybrid and shook him lightly. Danny opened his eyes, everything being blurry and had a slight tint of green. Vlad saw that the boy's eyes were their ghostly green instead of his usual sapphire blue.

Vlad sighed and said, "Daniel, listen to me. I need you to calm down and relax. Your powers are acting up because of your emotions."

Danny didn't seem to respond except for his breathing started to slow down. Vlad smiled and said, "that's it, Daniel. Nice slow even breaths."

Danny closed his eyes briefly and when they opened again, Vlad saw that the boy's eyes were flashing between green and blue. Vlad ruffled the boy's hair and then got an idea. Frostigi had said that the plant's substance was extremely cold and now that Vlad thought about it, Daniel was shivering slightly, but how Frostigi knew that in the first place, Vlad didn't know.

Vlad lit his hand with his soft blue energy and started rubbing Danny's back in slow, calming circles. Danny's body started to let go of its tense muscles and the boy slowly relaxed. Vlad watched as the boy before him relaxed more and more with every passing second.

Danny tense again when he felt a pulse surge through his body, but relaxed into it once he realized that it was probably Vlad and that it had a steady rhythm. Vlad let out a tired sigh and smiled down at the younger hybrid.

"I think you might have to stay longer, Little Badger, since not only are you not fully healed, but also need some work with controlling your newer powers," Vlad said.

Danny nodded slightly - not really thinking about what he heard - and before he knew what he was doing, he leaned on Vlad and fell asleep. Vlad was surprised to say the least. After getting over the initial shock, Vlad smiled and picked up the sleeping boy. As soon as Danny fell asleep, the energy stopped forming and everything fell silent.

Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Frostigi, Bennie and Jasper peaked into the room just as Vlad picked Danny up. Jazz and Frostigi ran into the room and Jazz whispered to Vlad, "Will Danny be alright?"

Vlad nodded and Jazz let out a sigh of relief. "Jasmine," Vlad started, getting the red-head's attention again. "Daniel may have to stay longer than I had originally anticipated because of his condition as well as his new powers. as much as I hate to allow this, you and Daniel's friend may come here to see him. However, I'm sure that you'll all be needed back home soon so…" Vlad motioned for Bennie and Jasper to enter the room and he said, "Bennie and Jasper will show you three the way back to the front of the castle."

The two gardeners nodded and lead the way for the three teens. They were almost out the door when Sam glanced back at the two hybrids and she said, "Tell Danny that he should go onto _'Doom!'_ as soon as he can when he wakes up, ok?" It was more of a demand by the young Goth instead of a question and before Vlad could respond, the raven haired girl left without another word.

Vlad glared at the entrance for a moment before he teleported back to Danny's room. When he got there, he found Daniel's dog, Maddie – his cat, and… Frostigi? _"Didn't I leave him back at the greenhouse?"_ Vlad wondered.

"Frostigi, how on Earth did you get here? Weren't you just down in the greenhouse?" Vlad asked.

Frostigi was sitting on one end of the bed cross-legged with his tail swishing back and forth in anticipation. "Yes and no. You were about to leave, but then I hitched a ride and I teleported here with you," he replied cheekily.

Vlad raised an eyebrow and placed Danny on the bed. After making sure that his young rival was well and secure, Vlad turned around and faced the other boy in the room. "I really should give you more credit. You could be an accomplished thief with those talents," the billionaire stated.

Frostigi glared and said, "I am a ninja, am I not? And I don't steal!" _"At least nothing simple and boring,"_ he added mentally.

"Yes, well, that being said, are you going to stay here with Daniel or are you going to follow me around all day?" Vlad asked.

"I'll be around. I don't like being in one spot for too long," Frostigi replied.

Vlad nodded and exited the room, Frostigi right behind him.

* * *

Frostigi was walking around the castle, exploring his temporary surroundings. He had followed Vlad around for a few hours, but that quickly became boring. Vlad was usually in his study filling out papers for his companies or in his lab doing something that he forbids the young _Familiar_ to see. Overall, Frostigi had nothing better to do.

Until Danny was better, he couldn't move forward in the plans he was told, so he had to busy himself another way. He found his way to a room that he recalled was right under Danny's; the employee lounge, or at least that's what it seemed to be part of the time.

He walked in and found nobody there until he heard voices getting closer from the other doorway. _"Oh CRAP!"_ Frostigi thought. In his panic to find a hiding spot, he unintentionally transformed into his animal form – a Little Badger.

He became just a little smaller than Vlad's cat and had short black and white fur. He was white from head to tail. His tail was very bushy just like in his humanoid form. His paws and ears were skin tone with no fur on them. His nose was pink and he had a patch of black fur from his nose to the top of his head – broken in the middle by some white fur, creating two patches of black instead of the one. Finally, he had a stipe of black fur running down his back with a thin sliver of white in the middle of that. His eyes were still green though.

Frostigi looked at his new form and said, "Well, I wasn't expecting that."

Just then, Vlad's ghost staff walked… floated into the room. Martha and Patricia were fighting as usual, while everyone else just watched and sometimes added their own input.

"I think he made Walker mad again. That's how he became so hurt," Martha said.

"No, no, no, no, no. Danny obviously was hunted by Skulker and Master Plasmius obviously helped the boy," said Patricia.

Carl nudged Derek and said, "Watch this." he turned back to the two arguing sisters and said, "But wasn't it Skulker who told Master Plasmius about Danny being in trouble in the first place?"

Derek leaned over to the ghost chauffer and said, "You are so mischievous sometimes." Carl only chuckled and nodded his head.

"Ha, so you are wrong!" Martha smiled.

"What?! No! I merely forgot, that's all. Maybe Danny was caught in an explosion of some sort. You saw how his clothing was burned," Patrcia countered.

"Then how do you explain all the deep cuts?" Martha spat.

It continued like this for a few more minutes before Bennie said, "Not to ruin anyone's fun in trying to solve this mystery, but did anyone else see those kids that just left?" Jasper nodded in agreement.

Derek was the first to speak up. "That red-headed girl, I heard her on the phone several days ago before Master Plasmius took it from me. She was older than all the other kids. Didn't Danny mention him having a sister?"

"Oh, yeah," George added. "Now that you mention it, he did say something about her. They sort of look alike, don't you think?" He turned to Niane who just nodded knowing that George had solved some of this on his own.

"Then who were those other two kids with her if she was the sister?" Carl asked.

"I believe those were Danny friends," Derek supplied. "I remember those three coming here before they were chased away the last time Danny was here."

Everyone nodded, but then Jasper did some hand signs to Bennie, who said, "I don't know Jasper. They seemed nice, especially that raven haired girl who looked really excited when she entered the greenhouse, but I think that they're also kind of dangerous." Jasper frowned, but nodded.

"They just better not make a mess of this house," Martha said.

"Yeah, I don't want them ruining my work," Patricia agreed.

Niane giggled while the boys chuckled. None of them where going to say it, but the two fighting sisters just agreed on something. That hadn't happened in a long time.

Just then, Frostigi sneezed, causing everyone to jump a little and Frostigi cursed under his breath.

"What was that?" Carl asked.

Everyone started searching for the source of the noise. Frostigi saw a shoe come near the table he was hiding under and he started to back up. Unfortunately, that resulted in his tail coming out the opposite side, which Derek stepped on.

Frostigi let out the loudest badger squeak he ever made and tried to get away from the offending foot. Derek jumped at the sudden sound and saw a white blur run out from under the table. Everyone saw Frostigi and almost instantly both Martha and Patricia screamed jumping and floating into the air.

"What is that?!" they both asked, refusing to land on the floor again.

They circled around the badger leaving no space to run away. George knelt down and said, "It's a… badger, and a pretty young one too. What's it doing here?"

"_Badger?"_ Niane thought. _"why on earth would there be… a… badger… Oh, Frostigi!"_ she exasperated. Now she needed to try and find a way to get the little trouble maker out of this.

Just then, Frostigi started mumbling, "I'm not here, I'm not here. Maybe they haven't notice me yet. Maybe I can still make a run for it." Frostigi uncovered his eye and nearly fainted right there. He then squeaked and mumbled, "No, no, no, no, no, bad idea, bad, bad, BAD idea." And then he turned invisible.

"Correction; It's a ghost badger," George said.

Frostigi became so panicked that he accidentally turned back into his humanoid form with a puff of green smoke. Everyone gasped, including Niane, but she was faking it. She knew that Frostigi could do that.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, Bennie said, "Hey, you're that boy from the greenhouse that helped Danny and Master Plasmius."

Frostigi blushed and asked hopefully, "Any chance of you all forgetting what you just saw?" When everyone answered 'no', Frostigi pouted and said, "Didn't think so."

Niane mentally shook her head. She had a lot of work to do and would definitely need to talk to the little _Familiar_ later – that is, if there a later.

* * *

**Phantom: Well that's the end of this chapter. I also wanted to say to all of you guys Happy Holidays! I know I'm still hyped up on Chanukah, but Marry Christmas and any other holiday!**

**Trainer: whew. That was a long chapter. I'm tired already.**

**Phantom: what are you talking about? I'm the one doing all the work!**

**Trainer: whatever. It looks like Frostigi has gotten himself into quite the predicament, hasn't he?**

**Phantom: yep. And then there's also the fact about Koŝmaro. Dude's in trouble too, from the looks of it. Will Koŝmaro get the books? How will Danny react to having to stay longer than planned with Vlad? What is going to happen to Frostigi? Well find out in the next few chapters.**

**Trainer: what are you? The end of a corny TV show?!**

**Phantom: NO! Anyways, look forward to the next couple of chapters.**

**Trainer: and don't forget to write us a review! Oh, and I… am Asparagus.**

**Phantom: pff… hahahahahahahahahahahaahahah a! I… I thi-ink y-y-you mean Sp-sp-sparta-hahahaha… Spartacus!**

**Trainer: that gag always gets her. See you guys next time!**

**Phantom: See ya!**


	14. Chapter 14: Why me? Part 1

**Phantom: Hey everybody!**

**Trainer: Sup?**

**Phantom: We just went and saw **_**The Hobbit**_** for our dad's birthday. I read the book like my brother and parents after they coxed me to try it. I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed both. I loved Fili and Kili.**

**Trainer: I know! They were so much like us.**

***Trainer mumbles something that only Phantom hears and they both giggle and blush***

**Phantom: I GET FILI!**

**Trainer: I GET KILI!**

**Phantom: Now that that's settled, I am proud to announce a few more things.**

**Thanks to everyone that has ever reviewed, favourite-ed, followed or supported us throughout the story so far. I'm going to mention you guys at the bottom! So look forward to it. ^w^**

**OMG! I've gotten 5,428 views for this story! I'm so happy and the number just keeps rising! I was going to say this when it had reached its first thousand, but I kind of forgot…**

**Trainer: Fail.**

**Phantom: SHUT UP!**

**This will either be my last or second last chapter during this break. If it is my last, then I'll see you guys once I'm back in school. Either way, I have one last thing to say to all of you…**

**Both: HAPPY NEW YEARS!**

**Trainer: Please enjoy the following chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Why me? Part 1**

* * *

Frostigi looked for an opening to escape, but quickly found that there was none. He was surrounded. George stood before the young _Familiar_ – not needing anyone to help him on that side. Derek was one his right looming over him – which was actually scary. The man could actually be intimidating; who knew? Carl stood to Frostigi's left and he assumed that his best chance at escape was by pushing the driver over, but he wasn't going to do that. He was like Danny – had a sense of right and wrong – and knew that that wasn't right, no matter how much he wanted to escape. Finally, to his back were Bennie and Jasper who watched him for any sudden movements.

Patricia and Martha had floated down to the ground to get a better look at the mysterious boy since they saw him transform from a badger into a boy.

The two leaned over the two gardeners and Patricia cooed, "He's so cute! Aw, what's a cute-y like you doing around here?"

Martha joined in the cooing and said, "You're right! He's more than cute; he's adorable! How old do you think he is?"

"My guess is twelve. He looks about twelve to me," Patricia said.

Frostigi looked between the two girls and frowned. They were talking about him like he wasn't even there! "You know, I am still here! I'm not invisible… well, not currently. And technically, I'm fifteen," the _Familiar_ mumbled.

Patricia and Martha were stunned into silence and an awkward quiet fell over the room. Frostigi blushed from embarrassment and said, "Um… awkward turtle?" and he made the hand movement while smiling sheepishly.

Jasper tapped Frostigi on the shoulder and did the same movement followed by several others. To which Bennie, Jasper and Frostigi began to laugh. Bennie and Jasper paused and Bennie asked, "You know sign language?"

Frostigi nodded and said, "More like bits and pieces. I'm able to understand for the most part as well as speak, read and write Esperanto and English." He smiled at the two gardeners while his tail swished from side to side. "Oh, by the way! Thanks for helping back in the greenhouse," he added.

Bennie and Jasper nodded and Bennie replied, "No problem, but we still want to know one thing."

Frostigi's tail flicked out in anxiousness and asked quietly, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was, "And, what would that be?"

"Who are you? Not that we don't appreciate you helping Danny like that or anything, it's just that we work for Master Plasmius and he doesn't take too kindly to intruders," Bennie replied.

At the news of the boy helping Danny with something that happened in the greenhouse, everyone – minus Niane – gasped and started asking questions. Frostigi was lucky to even hear parts of them as they all spoke.

"Oh my Ghost! Is the young halfa –"

"– alright? Please tell me that nothing bad happened to Danny! He likes to talk with me about cars! I would hate to see –"

"– the boy hurt again. I hope he didn't lose that not I gave him earlier. We were going to –"

"– visit him or have him come here to the lounge to speak with him. See how he's doing. Ask –"

"– how long he'll be staying with us? Oh, I hope he and Master Plasmius are on better terms."

It went on for a few minutes before Frostigi heard one voice that he recognized. The person had asked, "What happened in the greenhouse anyways?"

Frostigi looked around and paused on Niane. She was staring at him intently and he thought he recognized her from somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Everyone else stopped asking questions and talking about Danny and looked at Niane.

George spoke up and said, "That's a good question, Niane. What did happen in there? Bennie, Jasper, do you know? You two where there - where you not?"

The two gardeners nodded and Bennie said, "We don't know what exactly happened. It started off like any other day. We started our duties in the greenhouse and were tending to the plants in the human part of the building when Master Plasmius –along with Danny and those other three kids – came into the building. Danny smiled and waved at us, the girl in all black seemed amazed by the place, the tallest girl with red hair was helping Danny move around, the other boy just walked with the group, but looked like he might scream if something jumped up in front of him, and Master Plasmius lead the group."

Bennie paused and everyone nodded in understanding. Jasper made some hand motions and Bennie nodded.

"Jasper says that Danny looked better than he had a few days ago. Maybe Master Plasmius had done something else to help heal him. Anyways, like I said, everything was pretty much normal this morning," Bennie continued. "We were about to tend to some monkshood when the group went into the back room towards the ghost plants. The next thing we know, we had to duck underneath a table with black bryont and convolvus minor/bindweed!"

Everyone gave the gardeners a strange look that said 'care to elaborate?' and Bennie and Jasper's cheeks grew whiter as they blushed.

"Right, sorry, that probably wasn't the best explanation. Something happened in the room the group went into and after we hear some of them yelling these balls of energy started to exploded all over the place," Bennie elaborated.

Martha and Patricia hummed before they asked, "don't flowers have meanings behind them? Perhaps there was an omen about them and you didn't realise it."

Bennie frowned and said, "I don't know. What about you, Jasper? Do you know?"

Jasper made some more hand motions and Bennie face-palmed when he finished.

"You have got to be kidding me," Bennie said. He turned to everyone else and said, "Monkshood means beware, or that danger is near. Black bryont means to be someone's support and convolvus minor/bindweed means uncertainty. Anyways when we hid under the table, this guy," he pointed to Frostigi, "came in and asked what was going on. He ran in after we told him and then he came running out again, but with the three kids that went in with Danny and Master Plasmius."

Everyone stared at the little _Familiar_ with expressions of shock, relief, and scepticism. Bennie quickly wrapped up the story by explaining that the explosions had stopped and when they looked into the room, the younger hybrid was passed out in the older hybrid's arms. Then they were told to lead the three teens out to their vehicle before they returned to the house and to their duties in the greenhouse. They didn't even know where Frostigi had been until a few minutes ago.

Another awkward silence filled the room as everyone turned their attention back to Frostigi. To say he was scared was an understatement; he was terrified. These ghosts didn't know him and thought he was an intruder. And he knew that intruders – no matter where you come from – are never treated nicely.

George reached out a hand to the little _Familiar_ and Frostigi closed his eyes waiting for something horrible to happen, but nothing did. All of a sudden he felt someone ruffling his hair and he just had to see what was happening.

He opened his neon green eyes slowly and saw that it was the ghost chef that was playing his hair. Not only that, but he – and everyone else – was smiling at him. _"Ok, who put me on loopy-gas?"_ Frostigi wondered.

"Well whoever you are," George said to the boy, "thank you for helping the young halfa. From the sounds of it, you're just looking out for him. But you shouldn't be sneaking around this place."

Derek and Niane nodded. Carl then said, "Yeah. If Master Plasmius spots you around here and he doesn't know you, then he won't hesitate to attack. You're lucky he hasn't come after you since the whole greenhouse thing."

Frostigi chuckled and said, "Vlad already knows that I'm here. He's the one who brought me in the first place."

Everyone stared in shock. Well, all except Niane who already knew about this through her connection with Vlad. Several questions ran through everyone's heads; Vlad had brought him here? Why? What did he need this boy for?

Their thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling. George looked at Frostigi who merely blushed in embarrassment. George chuckled and said, "Well, it looks like someone is hungry. It's nearly lunch time, how about we get you some lunch, hmm?"

Frostigi's expression lit up at the mention of food. He hadn't eaten at all since he transformed from a book and he was starving. Frostigi nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, please. I think I might die if I don't eat." This was emphasised by another round of his stomach growls.

Everyone laughed and followed George to the kitchen. Niane was the last to leave the lounge. She couldn't help but smile as she saw that she didn't need to do anything to help Frostigi out of that sticky situation. However, that didn't mean that she could relax as of yet. Frostigi was a trouble maker, and trouble makers always find new ways to get stuck in unwanted situations.

Niane giggled at her own thoughts before following after the rest of the staff. She would need to have a word with Frostigi when they were alone. Niane heard her 'sister's' shriek followed be very young laughter that could only belong to the little _Familiar_.

"Clockwork, give me strength?" Niane pleaded to the open air before she went to find out what had gotten Martha and Patricia to scream.

* * *

Danny woke up from a dreamless sleep. He was still wearing the black sweatpants and white t-shirt he had found in the closet with Jazz's help. It hadn't occurred to either of them to go digging into the bags that Team Phantom had brought or the fact that Vlad still had a bunch of clothes in Danny's size. Danny and Jazz could worry about that later.

Danny got up, wincing slightly when his movements pulled on some of the wounds that were healing at a slower pace. The next thing to happen was Danny looking around the room he was in.

"My room? Wasn't I just in the greenhouse with Vlad, my sister and friends?" Danny said to himself with a scratchy voice.

Wait… He spoke out loud. He spoke… Out loud. He. Spoke. Out. Loud! Danny blinked before realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "I HAVE MY VOICE BA-ARG!" Danny started to exclaim, but grabbed his throat again as pain shot threw the tender area. "Ok, only partially back," he mumbled almost as a whisper.

Danny moved over to the edge of the bed which instantly got the attention of both animals on the other side of the bed. TJ and Maddie barked and meowed respectively before jumping and circling around the injured boy.

"Ok, ok, easy you two. I'm still injured if you haven't noticed," the younger hybrid said. TJ either didn't seem to notice or just didn't care since he continued to bark happily at his owner. Maddie, on the other hand, seemed to notice Danny's discomfort and just meowed at him from the floor.

Danny smiled at her and leaned down to pet both of them. TJ leaned into the touch and wagged his tail. When Danny went to pet Maddie, she looked at the hand before jumping up his arm and stopping on his shoulders.

"Maddie, you little devil. You tricked me. No wonder you and Vlad get along so well," Danny scowled at the cat. He then smiled. He couldn't stay mad at her. "Why do you have to be so cute and innocent?" he asked. He received a meow in response. "And I'm talking to a cat," he mumbled as he stood up.

Maddie balanced across his shoulders while TJ followed the boy wherever he went. Danny went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up as best he could. It's not as easy as you think it is when a cat restricts the movements of your upper half while a dog restricts the lower half.

After washing his face, combing his hair and then trying to get the comb back from Maddie after she stole it, Danny decided that he should eat something. He had been asleep for who-knew-how-long and was actually hungry.

The young hybrid made his way down the hallways to the stairs and into the main hall before finally arriving at the kitchen. He could have just phased through the floor of his room, but then the two animals who refused to leave his side would most likely be left behind and try to hunt him down. Danny was sure that they could do that since they both knew hybrids pretty well.

As soon as he looked into the kitchen, he found all of Vlad's ghostly staff lounging about talking to… Frostigi? Danny wondered where he went, but he guessed he now knew. Frostigi and the others didn't seem to notice Danny in the doorway as they continued to talk.

"Here you go, Frostigi," George said as he placed a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of fruit in front of the ninja boy.

Frostigi stared at it with wide eyes and said, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou… Thank You!" Just when the little _Familiar_ was about to dig in, TJ barked causing everyone to turn in the direction of the sound.

Danny didn't think that Frostigi's eyes could get any wider, but they did when their eyes met. Frostigi's mouth fell open and everyone else seemed to have a similar shocked or stunned expression.

Danny chuckled and said in a soft, scratchy voice, "You know, if you keep your mouths open like that, you're going to catch flies."

Everyone immediately closed their mouths – well, all except Frostigi; whose mouth turned into an open grin. Frostigi leapt from his bar stool and pounced on Danny. Not expecting the sudden tackle, Danny fell over with Frostigi still clinging to him while Maddie jumped off to avoid falling and TJ barked at the _Familiar _for making such a sudden movement.

"DannyDannyDannyDannyDANNY!" Frostigi cried out in joy like a little brother who just realized that their sibling or parent just walked into the room and had to show them something that they thought was amazing. "You're ok, and you can speak! Well, sort of, but you get the point. Areyouok?; WhatdidVladdotoyou?; Areyouhungry?"

Frostigi was talking so fast that Danny could barely make out what the boy was asking. Danny leaned on his elbows and said, "FROSTIGI! Calm down. I'm not dead you know… ok, not true, I'm half dead, but you get the point."

Frostigi looked at Danny with teary eyes, but then he punched the hybrid in the arm. "OW! Hey, what the hell was that for?!" Danny asked now annoyed.

"Stulta despistado fantomo (1)! You nearly gave me a heart/core attack in the greenhouse," Frostigi yelled as he hugged Danny, burying his face into Danny's chest.

Danny sat up with Frostigi still in his lap and put an arm around the _Familiar_. "First off, I'm not stupid. Second, why are you so upset? It's not like I died back there, right? What doesn't kill me makes me stronger? And thirdly, could you get off me? You're kind of heavy," Danny stated.

Danny tried to stand, but was only able to once Frostigi relented on his grip and got up too. They made their way back to the stools that Frostigi had been sitting on earlier and took their seats. Danny then leaned over to the smaller boy and whispered, "We'll talk later about what happened."

Frostigi nodded and went back to his meal slightly satisfied that Danny was ok. Danny looked around at the other beings in the room and blushed when Martha and Patricia 'aw-ed' at the little interaction between the two boys.

George leaned on the counter and smiled at Danny when he got his attention. "So," he said. "It's good to finally see you walking around, young halfa. What do you want? I'll make anything to celebrate."

Danny smile and said, "how-," Danny coughed when his voice got stuck. He then tried again with a little more success. "How about some pasta? Something warm would really help my throat problem."

George chuckled before replying, "Alright, I'll have it to you in a few minutes. Oh, and Danny?" Danny looked at the ghost chef in the eyes and wondered what the man… uh, ghost wanted to say. "Glad to see you again," he said before moving into the actual kitchen to work on the lunch.

Danny smiled and turned to face everyone else. Before he could even get a word out, Martha and Patricia smothered him a double hug.

"Oh, Master Danny, we are so happy to see you are alright," Martha cried.

"Yes, you gave us quite a fright when Master Plasmius brought you in and you were on the brink of death," Patricia added.

Danny flailed, trying and failing to get out of the embrace. Derek, Carl, Niane, Bennie and Jasper all laughed at the poor predicament that had befallen the young halfa. Frostigi even stopped eating with a ham sandwich hanging out of his mouth while he stared at his owner. Frostigi started to laugh, but instantly regretted it when he started to choke on the food. He hit his chest a few times before the sandwich finally went down and he let out a relieved sigh only to laugh again at Danny.

Danny's face turned into a mixture of red and blue from embarrassment and lack of air respectively. Finally, he managed to gasp, "Martha… Patricia… can't… breath."

The two maids immediately let go of the boy. He gasped in a few deep gulps of air and smiled weakly at them. The two blush and backed away mumbling their apologies. Danny merely smiled broader and said, "Good to see you two too, but maybe… maybe next time could you just take turns acting overprotective?"

Everyone laughed. Right then, George came back with a plate of pasta. "Eat up, young halfa. There's plenty more where that came from."

Danny looked towards the food and his stomach instantly made the decision before his brain did. Danny started to eat his food, savouring each and every bite. He had forgotten how good the ghost chef's food was.

Everyone else decided to eat something as well before they each had to return to any of their duties. Danny and Frostigi finished their meals in record time and asked George for more. The ghost chef was more than happy to oblige and served them another helping.

Danny and Frostigi happily ate their fill and then both let out a sigh of satisfaction. Carl chuckled and said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were brothers."

Danny and Frostigi cracked open one of their eyes each and stared at the ghost driver before looking at each other and smiling. "Well, I don't know about brothers, but I could definitely see us as relatives," Danny said.

Frostigi started to laugh so hard that he fell off his stool and was then promptly tackled by TJ who began licking the boy's face.

"Gah! Somebody get this dog off me! Gah, Danny! HELP!" Frostigi exclaimed.

Danny watched from his own stool and said, "I don't know. If you're going to end up being near me all the time, since I have to presume from your little freak-out earlier that that will end up happening, then you are going to need to be on good terms with TJ." Danny laughed when lay across the _Familiar's_ chest, effectively trapping him to the floor.

In a few seconds, Danny was on the floor too and called TJ off before the Dalmatian walked over, sat down and wagged his tail happily. "Did you like your new playmate?" Danny asked. In response, TJ barked happily.

"Well I certainly didn't. You know, I was clean before you decided to give me your personal bath," Frostigi growled in discomfort at the dog.

TJ just barked louder and panted like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Well, look on the bright side," Bennie said.

"What bright side? I smell like dog breath now. I'm gonna need a bath now," Frostigi protested.

Derek chuckled and replied, "well, at least be grateful that you were bigger than him instead of being your badger self. Otherwise he or even Maddie could have gotten the better of you."

Frostigi turned bright red at the valid point and remained quiet. Everyone laughed except for Danny. "What are you guys talking about? Frostigi hasn't turned into a badger as far as I know," said the hybrid.

"Oh yeah, you were upstairs when it happened. We found him in the lounge under your room as a badger and when he got scared, he turned back into this form. We thought he was an intruder until he, Bennie and Jasper cleared part of it up," Carl said. "Hey, are you ready to play some games?" he then asked.

Danny titled his head. "Um… sure, but why?"

"Derek gave you a note at breakfast. You didn't read it did you," Niane said while smiling at the hybrid. She had seen everything happen through Vlad's eyes so she knew that Danny had most likely had the note still, but never got the chance to look it over.

As she guessed, Danny blushed and admitted, "Um… I never looked at the note. Sorry. With everything that happened and with Vlad sticking by my side all morning, I never found a good opportunity to look at it." Danny pulled the note out and wanted to slap himself for forgetting about it; especially since he had woken up with nobody around to try and read it before him. Danny unfolded the paper and began to read:

_Danny,_

_Later today, we'd all like to meet with you and play a few games. Bennie and Jasper really wanted a rematch in that card game 'signal'. We also want to see what other games we can beat you at. Niane was simply amazing when she brought you down in chess and we've been practicing._

_We were thinking around lunch or the afternoon if you're feeling up to it. If not, we completely understand. Meet us in the lounge or kitchen if you feel up to the challenge._

_Signed, your ghostly staff/friends._

_P.S. we placed a wager on whether or not you would read this note._

Danny finished reading and had to try and hold in his laughter at the final sentence. He looked up from the paper and said, "Well, who won the bet?"

At the mention of the bet, some of the ghosts cheered and said that everyone should pay up while others groaned in defeat. The ones who won consisted of Niane, George, Martha, and Derek, while the losers were Carl, Patricia, Bennie and Jasper.

Danny smiled and asked, "What did the winners get anyway?"

Derek smirked and said, "Since we don't bet with money, we decided that the loser had to do something special for the winner."

Patricia said that she had to do one of the chores that Martha hated doing, which, coincidentally, was a chore that she also hated. When Danny asked what the chore was, both replied that it was helping Bennie and Jasper clean the outer grounds of the estate. Normally they didn't do it, but occasionally they were needed to help.

Carl had to bring a special request back from the Ghost Zone the next time he was there. When Danny whispered/asked Carl what the request was, the ghostly driver told him that it was actually no big deal. It was just to get a certain suit from a seamstress. Apparently, shortly after Danny returned to Amity Park, Maddie had done a number on one of the suits that Derek owned. Since Derek didn't visit the Ghost Zone as often as Carl, the bet made it so that Carl could pick it up for him. Danny shrugged and thought that Carl was right; it wasn't that big a deal.

Bennie and Jasper were trying to convince the youngest maid and the chef that they should do something for them like the bet intended, but the two argued that it wasn't necessary. When they said that they could grow anything for them in the greenhouse, George immediately brightened at the idea and said, "I could always use some rhubarb. I could finally make a strawberry-rhubarb pie." Niane relented and said that she always loved roses, especially red ones. The two gardeners smiled and said they would be more than happy to grow them.

Danny smiled and said, "I thought bets were supposed to be horrible for the loser. You know, like losing money or having to do some sort of ridiculous challenge?"

Carl laughed and replied, "Normally, yes. How did you know? Have you ever made a bet?"

Danny blushed and whispered in his hoarse voice, "Maybe."

This got a few heads to spin. Jasper instantly started to motion something and Bennie translated. "He wants to know what your bets have been and if you've either been the winner or the loser."

Danny blushed even harder and croaked out, "um… I don't know, it's kind of gross and embarrassing."

"Aw, come on. We're all friends here. Besides, I'm sure that we've seen worse things in the Ghost Zone than you could tell us happened here," George added playfully, finally coming into the conversation.

Danny looked for a way out, but found none. Everyone could easily catch him in his state since they had full access to their powers as well as TJ and Maddie blocking his way physically. Danny sighed and said, "Fine, but you asked for it. You can't regret asking."

Everyone nodded in agreement, so the young hybrid began speaking, "Ok, so I have been in a few small bets with my friends, but that was usually for a few dollars. Just something simple like 'which ghost did I have to skip class to fight?' or 'who will win this round of this game?' and my least favourite, 'what does Dash want with me now?'"

When Danny got a bunch of confused looks, he said, "Oh, right! Dash is the quarterback of my school's football team. He's also the school bully, and I'm his favourite target."

"Well, why not fight back? You certainly could with your abilities," Martha pointed out.

Danny's face fell slightly and he explained, "Well, I could, but that wouldn't be right. Just because I can, doesn't mean I should. Plus, before I got my ghost powers, I was known as 'weak little Fenton', the kid who was a loser and bottom of the social ladder."

Niane smiled, "well, I don't agree with you when you believe that you should just take it, but you are right in saying that you shouldn't use your powers to get even."

Danny smiled and for a minute he looked like Vlad when he said, "Now who said that? I've gotten even on him a few times. What can I say, I can't control my actions once my emotions have a say in the matter." Danny looked at the ceiling thinking about when he stuffed Dash's teddy-bears or _Fenton Paper_ into the boy's locker. Dash could only prove that Danny had done one of them, but he always blamed Danny when something bad happened to him.

Niane shook her head, but Carl asked, "So, besides those money bets with your friends, did you do any other kinds of bets?"

Danny frowned and turned a little green at the memory. "Yeah," Danny said. "But I don't think I'll ever be able to live it down. Quick note, don't let yourself get talked into a bet like this. It was around Halloween and my grades had fallen pretty low. My teacher said that if I wanted to bump up my mark I had to help with the Haunted House charity event. Unfortunately, Dash was also flunking the course and had to help too. When Mr. Lancer left, Dash said that he could make a scarier Haunted House than me and said that I was too much of a chicken to participate. I let my pride and anger get the better of me and I told him that I could make my room twice as scary as his. He smiled at me and said that we should make a wager. At first I didn't want to, but the idea of my showing him up was too great, so I accepted.

My friends tried to help me, but they said I wasn't scary and that my attempt was pretty bad. Sam found something about the Fright Knight and how he was the ghost of Halloween. Excited about the possibility, I flew through the Ghost Zone and apparently into Pariah's castle for the first time. I found the pumpkin that held the ghost knight's sword and took it. Man was that a bad idea. I used it to make my room of the Haunted House scarier, but it also meant that I unleashed the Fright Knight.

The dude came and found me, and I was about to win the bet too. But he had to ruin it by taking the sword back and slashing my teacher, Dash, and my best friend – Tucker – into their worst nightmares. After I defeated the ghost by putting his sword into my friend's Trick-or-Treat bag – which was in the shape of a pumpkin – all the people that Fright Knight had slashed came back. Bad part was that the fight destroyed my room and Mr. Lancer disqualified me; making me lose the bet, but at least the town was safe."

When Danny was finished, everyone was laughing. Carl wiped a glowing tear from his eye before asking, "So, you never told us what the bet was. You lost, so what did you have to do?"

Danny turned a visible green this time and held back the acidic bile that wished to escape his stomach. When he gained control again he said, "The bet was that the loser had to eat Dash's gross underwear."

Everyone gaged and 'ew-ed' at the idea. George looked appalled overall. He couldn't even imagine someone eating something so vile.

Danny nodded in agreement. "Being a teenager in high school, I had to do it to save some of my dignity or be called a wimp for the rest of my school life. I can honestly say that I have never made that rash a decision again."

Danny got off the stool and said, "Can we play those games later? I kind of wanted to just walk around for a bit."

"Sure, we can wait. Just don't scare us half-to-full-death. We don't want to see you in a bloody mess again," Derek said.

Danny nodded and left the room with Maddie on his shoulders again while TJ stayed on his right. Frostigi waved to the ghostly staff before following after the young hybrid.

* * *

Vlad had been in his study and, more recently, his lab since the little episode that happened in the greenhouse. He noticed that Frostigi had left a while ago, probably bored of watching the older man work. Vlad smiled. If the _Familiar_ had stayed just a little while longer, than he would have realised that Vlad was doing research on him and the books.

Vlad had just finished another search of the weird writing found in the _Far Frozen_ caves, but it came up negative… again. The older hybrid had tried verifying it with several languages on Earth and some dead ones found in the Ghost Zone, but none matched up. Maybe a word here or there, but not the entire section.

He had tried French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Egyptian, Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin, Latin, Greek, Spanish and several others that he couldn't pronounce. Not one matched the odd writing.

Vlad rubbed his temples. Perhaps it was time for a break. The billionaire looked at his wrist watch and found that it was a little past lunch. At the sudden realisation, Vlad's stomach growled and he made his way out of the lab and to the kitchen.

He was about to enter the main hall when he decided to make a quick detour by the younger hybrid's room and check up on him. _"Perhaps Frostigi had gone to the boy's room to rest," _Vlad thought.

He changed direction and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Little did he know that as soon as he turned down the hallway at the top of the stairs did Danny, Frostigi and the two animals leave the kitchen and headed for the den.

Vlad opened the door to peak in, hoping as to not wake the boy if he was still asleep. Vlad listened for any movements, but frowned when he didn't hear anything. He didn't hear any breathing, movement or even a steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Growing worried, Vlad opened the door all the way and rushed into the room. Said room was empty except for the messy bed that Vlad knew he had left the boy in.

Vlad left the room and started searching for any signs of the boy. He was almost to the main stairs when he heard someone gasp, "What are these things?!"

Vlad quickened his pace and soon found him in the den, where Danny, Frostigi, Maddie and TJ were surrounded by the creatures that Skulke had shown the older hybrid and which Danny had fought back at the Nasty Burger.

Vlad quickly took in the scene. Frostigi had his sword drawn and was holding it up, occasionally blocking a green claw from swiping at them. Maddie and TJ were hissing and growling at the smaller blue creatures whenever they tried to move closer. Finally, Danny was at the centre of the circle looking very angry, surprised and maybe even fearfully at the creatures.

One of the humanoid creatures jumped at Frostigi, who blocked, but then another one jumped at Danny. Not being prepared for the attack, Danny closed his eyes and held his hands up as protection.

"DANNY!" "DANIEL!" Frostigi and Vlad yelled respectively, both trying to get to Danny in time. Danny waited for the blow, but it never came. Danny opened his eye just a crack to see the creature be blasted back, but not in the way he had expected.

Danny opened his eyes all the way and saw that his hand was glowing green, but he hadn't shot an ecto-blast. Instead it had been a green ball of energy appearing right in front of the creature, which exploded when it had been close enough. Danny stared and then smirked. "I don't know what just happened, but I like it," He said before making another green sphere appear in the air and whipping it at another clawed creature.

Frostigi smiled and with a small battle cry joined the boy in fighting. Vlad transformed and helped as well.

They were almost done when Danny suddenly gave a surprised cry, getting everyone's attention. Frostigi and Vlad froze at what they saw. Danny was being restrained by two of the humanoids while five of the smaller creatures started pulling him into the ground.

"What the hell are you mmphr!" Danny cried as a green ecto-gag formed over his mouth.

"Daniel! Stop allowing them to phase you into the ground!" Vlad growled, but then recalled the information that Skulker had gotten. The smaller creatures could disappear into the ground as shadows and couldn't be attack when like that.

Realising that this was what they were doing, Vlad shot towards the cluster holding Danny and tried to pry them off. Before he even managed to get one, Danny made one more muffled scream before he and the five mouse-like creatures disappeared into a shadow and left.

Vlad growled and destroyed about ten of the offending creatures before they vanished from the room. Frostigi looked around frantically for any traces of the teen, but found none. He turned to Vlad and asked, "What do we do now?"

The older hybrid turned to the _Familiar_ and said, "We track them down and rip them apart for kidnapping Daniel."

Frostigi nodded and followed Vlad to his lab. The billionaire moved over to one of the computer and typed in a few commands. A second later, and Skulker's image filled the screen.

"Skulker!" Vlad all but yelled to the hunter ghost.

Fearing that the vampire-ish ghost had called to yell at him for allowing the whelp to be harmed, Skulker started to ramble, "L-l-look Plasmius. It wasn't my fault what happened! I swear it! H-h0-he's the one who took the hit for me. I didn't-"

He didn't get to finish since Vlad cut him off. "Not now, Skulker. I don't have time for your excuses or your rambling. I need your help in tracking down Daniel! He was just ambushed by those… hose creatures that attacked you! They took him somewhere and I can't find it. I need you here NOW!"

Skulker was shocked for a moment. Someone else had captured _his_ 'prey'? NEVER! Skulker nodded and said, "I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll leave immediately."

Vlad nodded and replied, "Hurry." With that, he ended the communication and waited for the hunter to arrive.

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny was being dragged unwillingly as a shadow to the woods next to Vlad's castle. When they finally emerged and returned to a solid state, Danny was woozy and just about ready to pass out for the second time that day.

"_That was worse than teleporting for the first time,"_ he thought as he got his bearings. Danny looked around and found that he was at the river he had always gone to when he felt like being alone when he had stayed here.

Danny was so out of it that he didn't notice some of the humanoids tie him to a tree while using ecto-ropes until it was too late. _"Damn it!"_ he thought to himself. _"Note to self: train to keep focused in dire situations."_

Danny glared at the creatures. They glared back and a few even showed their claws as a threat. The staring contest ended abruptly when a black/purple portal opened. Danny watched as a figure emerged from the void and into the small clearing.

His eyes widened when he realised who it was: Koŝmaro Magiisto.

The first thing he noticed was that Koŝmaro looked weaker and that his arms was bandaged and in a sling. The second was the creature on his shoulder; it looked like the other small blue mouse-like beings, but it looked a little more purple than the others.

Koŝmaro walked further into the clearing and the portal he had walked through was closed. He looked around and his pupil less red eyes stopped on Danny. He turned to one of the humanoid creatures and said, "I told you to _watch_ them, not _capture_ them. There is a huge difference."

The creature said something that Danny assumed was an apology and the ghost magician nodded. He then turned back to Danny and said, "Well, since you're here, why don't we get to know each other better, hmm?"

He then started to move slowly closer to Danny, like a predator does its prey. Danny's eyes widened in fear before he closed them shut and refused to open them. He heard a deep chuckle that just kept getting closer to him until it was right in front of his motionless form. All the muscles in his body tensed when a cold gloved hand caressed his face, tilting it this way and that before it settled for cupping the side of his face.

Danny gulped and felt sweat bead down his face. He continued to keep his eyes shut and clenched his teeth.

Koŝmaro watched as the boy before him squirmed and tried to get his face away from his touch. The ghost magician smiled wickedly and said, "Come now, I'm not going to hurt you this time." He started to caress the child's cheek again and when Danny tried to turn away, Koŝmaro gripped him firmly into place. "Ah, ah, ah," he said condescendingly. "Don't you know it's not polite to not look your guest in the eye? Come on, open your eyes."

Danny refused and when Koŝmaro saw this, he frowned. He then smiled again and sent a small shock into the boy's body. Danny made a muffled yelp and quickly opened his eyes to try and find the source. A second later, Danny and Koŝmaro were staring at each other; Danny with big fearful blue eyes and Koŝmaro smiling in victory with his own gleaming red eyes.

He smiled at the tied up teen and pat his raven hair. "See," he said. "That wasn't too hard, eh Danny-boy?"

Danny shrank away from the offending hand and repressed a shiver from going down his spine. He then thought, _"He could be Dan Phantom's relative… or I guess, my relative."_ The only person to ever call him 'Danny-boy' was Dan, and he would rather forget it than have to remember it.

Koŝmaro, on the other hand, laughed at the younger hybrid's reaction. The end of his long, braided, blue flame hair flared as he laughed. It reminded Danny of his future evil self as well as Skulker and Ember, but mostly Dan.

Koŝmaro leaned in closer to the paled boy's face and said in a voice that did send a shiver down Danny's spine, "We're going to have such a fun time, you and me." Danny watched and listened in horror as the older being began to laugh again, but this time like Dan.

Danny closed his eyes, failing to hold back his tears of fear. Koŝmaro caressed his face again and wiped away some of the tears before saying, "Oh, don't cry. Like I said, we're going to have some fun."

Danny kept his eyes shut while the other ghost spoke. Danny couldn't fight back, he was too drained from the previous fight and woozy from the little ride the mouse-like creatures took him on. He was trapped. "Someone please help me," Danny pleaded, but all that was heard was his muffled cries.

* * *

**Phantom: Hey, so just a translation from earlier guys.**

(1) Stupid clueless Phantom!

* * *

**Phantom: Glad you guys got to the bottom. Sorry that this is only part 1, but I didn't want to lose the suspense!**

**Trainer: But I want to know NOW!**

**Phantom: well, you're just going to have to wait.**

**Trainer: hmph!**

**Phantom: so do you guys have any New Year's Resolutions?**

**Danny: I want to get better grades. God knows that I need to.**

**Sam: I want to *blush* spend more time with Danny.**

***Danny blushes too***

**Danny: Same here Sam!**

**Tucker: Lovebirds. I want to get some new technology and maybe spend more time with Valerie.**

**Vlad: I don't think it's any of your business to know what I want to do this year.**

***everyone stares at Vlad***

**Phantom: Maybe it's not the best time, but –**

**Trainer: DOG PILE ON VLAD!**

**Vlad: GAH!**

***Phantom and Trainer high five on the side lines***

**Vlad: you know I'm going to have to even the score because of this.**

**Both: we know.**

**Phantom: Thanks everybody!**

**Trainer: And Happy New Year!**

**Both: thanks to everyone who has supported us. We encourage you all to review!**

* * *

**Special mentions**

**Thanks to the 5,466 viewers who chose to read 'Ghostly Reunions'.**

**Thanks to the following that have fav-ed this story (love ya!):**

**AllWatcher, Blackwolfhunting , Chrome Nagi Dokuro, Cynder3601, DeReZzeD ArI, DragonsFlame117, Dreamer Mitsukai, Gemini97 , Kira Sema, Onio, PhantomGirl1223, PinkLettuce , PrincessBetty, SKIPBEATfanfanfan, Shadow The Assassin, ShadowedFang , Soldier's Requiem , SpiritTrainer , The Literary Lord, blackjay48, , dinosaurusgeek , history101, jbcm8925, jeanette9a , megayugiohlover , whisperofthemoon , xXxCravingPepperonixXx , zoeshade**

**Thanks to the following that have chosen to follow this story:**

**AllWatcher , Athina Dark-Angel of Death, Azawrath and Dusk, Bananahsplit, Baracudaz, Chrome96Dokuro, Chrome Nagi Dokuro, DannyPhantomluver2, DragonsFlame117, Dreamer Mitsukai, Garniella , Gemini97, GoddessWarrior, HP Girl 28, ItSmellsLikeAllstate, JesusFreak19, Lightningpool, NebulaLuna30, PinkLettuce, PrincessBetty01, SailorSea , ShadowedFang, Siberian Hawk, Soldier's Requiem, SpiritTrainer, The Dp Fangurl, , dinosaurusgeek , history101, jeanette9a , katanne92813, maltese, megayugiohlover , pearl84, truephan, twihard5000**

**Thanks to the following who have ever reviewed:**

**Emo respect and love, Gemini97, jeanette9a, history101, The Dp Fangurl, EmberMclain13, truephan, Azawrath and Dusk, pearl84, PrincessBetty01, Athina Dark-Angel of Death, DragonsFlame117, twihard5000, Guest (reviewed in chapter 7), maltese, Shadow The Assassin, Tedlovestxranger, dinosaurusgeek, Garniella, Guest (reviewed in chapter 10), PinkLettuce, DannyPhantomluver2, Guest (reviewed in chapter 12)**

**Finally, Special thank you-s!:**

**pearl84, **thank you for writing your awesome stories. I probably would have never started reading Fanfictions or writing this story for that matter if it hadn't been for you.

**truephan, **thank you as well for writing your awesome stories. I just love them. And thank you for all the criticism for my first ever Fanfiction. It means a lot.

**Gemini97,** thank you for being there all the way from the beginning. You and I were just starting out and it meant so much to me that you and I became friends because of this. ^w^

**To jeanette9a and history101,** like Gemini97, you guys have supported me in this endeavour since the beginning, so I thank you. I couldn't have done it without ya!

Finaly thanks to my sister **SpiritTrainer** who laughed right alongside me since the beginning. I know it's confusing, but I'm _**Phantom Trainer**_ and she is _**Spirit Trainer**_. She used to be called Pokebudy, but changed it. Just to make it clear though; PT is mostly about Danny Phantom and ST is mostly about Pokemon! Got it? Good.


	15. Chapter 15: Why me? Part 2

**Phantom: Hey everyone. Been a while huh? The last time I had updated was back in December! Ok, not that long actually. I did say that I would try and update once a month.**

**Trainer: Yep, it's been busy for us here. God I'm tired!**

***Trainer crashes and falls asleep next to Snorlax. Snorlax grabs Trainer and uses here as a teady-bear.***

**Phantom: Aww! That's so… do I say cute or awkward? Hmm, I'll go with both!**

**Trainer: zzzzzZZZZ I'm the CHAMPION! ZZZZZzzzzz.**

**Phantom: So, I don't know who they are, but I want to give a special shout-out to a Guest under the name **_**Coolie cupcake**_**. I loved your review and hope to hear from you more often. That means I want to hear from all you readers! But back to **_**Coolie cupcake**_**, your review was sweet (cavity inducing sweet!) and I just wanted to thank you. It's hard to believe that you're only 12. I love it!**

**Vlad: What about me?! Daniel has been kidnapped right in front of me and here you are with sleeping beauty just talking away!**

**Phantom: Ok, ok, cool your jets, Vlad. I needed to say some things to the many people who read this. Can I do that at the least?**

**Vlad: NO! I'll do it. It will go quicker that way. *clears throat* Hello to all of you readers out there. I'm sure Phantom would have plenty of useless things to mention to you-**

**Phantom HEY!**

**Vlad: -but I'm far too busy to bother so please ignore the rest and scroll the page down.**

***Phantom gives a hurt glare at the older hybrid***

**Vlad: Oh, come now, my dear.**

**Phantom: NO! Leave me alone! *Phantom disappears in a puff of green smoke***

**Vlad: Oh, butter biscuits! *sigh* everyone, please enjoy chapter 15. PHANTOM! COME BACK! I DIDN'T MEAN IT. PLEASE COME OUT SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS! *disappears in a puff of pink smoke***

**Trainer: zzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ Nhg! *Trainer looks around to see pink smoke. Trainer's eyes widen* Phantom!? Vlad!? Where are you? *looks at Snorlax* I. AM. NOT. A. TEADY-BEAR!**

**Snorlax: SNOR!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Why me? Part 2**

* * *

"_**WHAT**_!?"

Skulker cringed and ducked as a one of the many beakers in the lab was thrown towards him. To say that the hunter was scared was an understatement. He was downright terrified, and he was a ghost! Ghosts were meant to spread fear, not become a victim to it!

Skulker had arrived at Vlad's portal minutes after the older hybrid had called him. Sure, he had to give up his chase of a rare blue phoenix ghost, but he figured that this was more important. First off, if the whelp was going to be captured by anyone, it was either going to be him - the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter - or Plasmius. Second, Vlad had sounded too panicked to be thinking straight, but now that the hunter truly saw his employer, he knew that Plasmius was not a ghost _anyone_ should mess with right now.

Plasmius was in full blown angry-over-protective-half-ghost-father mode. And anyone - human and ghost alike - who messed with him while he was like this was more than likely to be a puddle of goo by the end of their encounter.

Vlad was currently pacing about his lab in his ghost form, scowling and mumbling under his breath. Skulker watched the older hybrid carefully. He could end up a puddle of goo if he wasn't careful in how he approached this.

Taking a deep breath, the mecha-ghost said calmly, "I'm sorry, Plasmius, but it is as I said; I can't track the whelp."

Plasmius spun to face the hunter so fast that said hunter was worried that the older man had gotten whiplash. The billionaire's glowing red eyes fixed their stare on Skulker. Violent red met calm, but irritated green. Not changing his posture, Vlad growled, "But how, Skulker? You've been able to track him before, whether he was human or ghost, in the Ghost Zone or the Human Realm, anytime anywhere! How, in ghost's name, can you not simply track him NOW?!"

Skulker made a sideways glance to his right as he nervously rubbed a hand over his green flame-like Mohawk hair. Trying to explain himself, Skulker explained, "As much as I hate to say this, Plasmius, there are certain limits to even my current abilities. My gear _can_ find the pup anywhere, but only within a certain distance. Like most scanners, they have a fixed range. Plus, since he's still recovering, his ecto-signature is most-likely low, maybe even too low to detect at all."

Plasmius growled and then punched the nearest wall leaving a huge dent in it. Skulker jumped in surprise, but not in as much surprise as the three other beings in the room. Skulker turned towards one of the lab benches and found a boy who looked no bigger than a twelve or thirteen year-old. He was dressed like a ninja and had black/white hair. He had glowing green eyes that were red and puffy from possible crying and a white/silvery tail circling his fettle-positioned body.

The boy cringed and looked through his black bangs at the fuming hybrid. Next to the boy were Vlad's cat and a fairly large dog. All three of them looked nervous and ready to flee for the door at any given moment.

Skulker raised a brow and was debating whether or not to ask Vlad who this boy was and… where did the dog come from. Wait… dog?

"Plasmius?" Skulker said getting the man's attention. "Where did the dog come from?"

Vlad glared and said, "That _dog_, as you so kindly put it, is Daniel's. If you recall, your '_prey_' got him as a birthday gift. But more importantly, Skulker," Vlad paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. "WHAT IN GHOST'S NAME DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH FINDING **DANIEL**?!"

Skulker, Frostigi and the two other animals cringed and the later three tried to make themselves shrink into them and disappear. Frostigi could have done that, but was too scared to try. Vlad glance at Fostigi and said, "I apologize for the outburst, Frostigi, but this is as important to me as it is to you."

Frostigi absentmindedly nodded and returned to his silent staring. Skulker looked between the two before continuing with what he had intended to tell the man. "Plasmius, you should really listen before yelling like that. What I was going to say was that we can use the pup's pup. Animals tend to have a sixth sense about the abnormal and timing of natural disasters."

Plasmius thought about it for a moment. He may be onto something. When Daniel had first brought Maddie in as a kitten, she somehow always managed to find him; even when he was invisible and in such a big and complex house no less. The boy's dog – TJ was it? – also seemed to have this ability. When he let the boy leave to visit his home once during his stay with the billionaire - even while Daniel had been invisible and in ghost form the pet had found him and almost exposed him to his sister. Perhaps the hunter was right.

Dogs could track people, even for great distances. They could sense if a ghost was nearby. Plus, TJ already knew Daniel's scent like the back of his paw! This could work, but there could still be a problem.

Vlad turned to face all the beings in the room and said, "Skulker that is a wonderful idea except for one slight detail."

Skulker frowned more deeply and tilted his head as if to ask '_and what would that be?_'. "Daniel's pet _can_ track him, but I'm afraid that we'd be putting a lot of hope in someone who most likely can't track him without a proper trail. Daniel was grabbed and pulled into the ground like a shadow. That means there was no physical trail to follow."

Skulker sighed. They were running low on options and every second they spent here trying to figure this out, the longer the whelp could be in danger. Skulker didn't care for the boy that much other than to have his pelt, but he made a deal and had to keep it. He was a ghost of honour and would uphold his end of the bargain. Not to mention that Plasmius would use him as target practice should he refuse to help – and Plasmius _NEVER_ misses his target.

"Perhaps I should just call Jasmine back to the castle to help," said the older hybrid.

Skulker jumped at the sound of his employer's voice. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts again. The hunter looked up to find that Vlad seemed to be talking mostly to himself. "She may have a device that can track her brother. It's happened before," the man continued.

At the mention of retrieving the red-headed girl, Frostigi jumped up in a panic and yelled, "NO!" Vlad and Skulker stared wide eyed at the boy while TJ and Maddie fled the room from the loud outburst.

Vlad took a step towards the _Familiar_ and asked, "No? What do you mean 'no'? Do you not realise that she may be the only person who can help find Daniel?!"

Frostigi got very nervous all of a sudden; Skulker could smell it. It wasn't entirely nervousness, it was partly feared. Like the way a child acted when they had said something they hadn't meant to say and was demanded an explanation from.

Frostigi looked to his left and found a spot on the floor that was suddenly very interesting. His tail wrapped around his legs and he started to mumble something. Vlad raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm? Sorry could you maybe repeat that? I didn't quite catch that."

Frostigi gave a half-hearted glare and said louder, "I said that I… that I…" Frostigi sighed and got a sad look in his eyes as he turned away. "I can't… tell you." before anyone could stop him, the boy fled.

Plasmius and Skulker watched in shocked as the boy fled with tears streaming down his face. Vlad growled and punched the wall again, leaving an identical dent next to the first. The older hybrid turned to the hunter and said, "We'd better go after him. He knows something that he's not telling us."

Skulker nodded and asked, "What was your first clue? Any ideas on where this mini-whelp might be?"

Vlad inwardly chuckled at the hunter's name for the boy even though he had no idea who he was. Vlad turned human and said, "Actually, I have a pretty good idea as to where the badger has gone to."

Skulker followed the now-human Vlad up to the second floor. Skulker was getting a serious case of déjà vu when they came to a door that belonged to the whelp's room. Vlad calmly walked in and over to the closet. He walked in and moved up to the hidden mini-lounge where Frostigi was curled into a ball – the only parts showing being his body, hair and tail.

Vlad shook his head. From the way that the boy was acting as he and the hunter entered, it was obvious that he hadn't noticed them yet. Vlad motioned Skulker towards the boy and Skulker gave a mischievous smirk. He floated over so as to not make a sound and then… he pulled the boy's tail receiving a squeak of protest and a shocked response of "Clockwork!" as the boy was lifted off the ground by his tail.

Vlad watched as the boy was dangled in the air like a prize. When Frostigi said the time master's name, Vlad had to wonder why he said it. Was it like Vlad, where he said snack foods instead of swears? If so, why Clockwork's name? Was it a joke that played off the fact that this was poor timing on his part? But what if it wasn't and the boy was simply calling for the spirit? All these questions ran through the billionaire's head when a puff of green smoke grabbed his attention.

Where Frostigi once dangled was now a Little Badger – still being held up by his tail no less. Skulker and Vlad were surprised. This was the first time that either of them had seen the _Familiar_ transform, and neither could believe the irony of it all. Both had made reference to Daniel when they spoke about the _Familiar_, including when Vlad called Frostigi a badger, but he wasn't expecting this.

Skulker chuckled and got a better grip on the badger by hold him by the scruff of his neck. A moment later, the badger turned back into a boy – arms crossed, tail swishing back and forth and being held by the back of his shirt.

Looking between the two adults, Forstigi exclaimed, "What do you want from me? I haven't done anything wrong!"

Vlad moved across the room to the couches and sat down. Looking back at the trapped boy he said, "I want answers. Skulker will most likely want your pelt later after all of this, but that's a discussion for a later time."

Frostigi gave a nervous glance at the hunter to see that Vlad was right – the mecha looked like a kid in a candy store the way he was looking Frostigi over. It was the same look he gave only his most intriguing and elusive prey – i.e. Danny.

Vlad cleared his throat returning the boy's attention to him. "As I said, I want answers. First off, why won't you tell us why I shouldn't call Jasmine?"

Frostigi glared. "I never said I wouldn't tell you. I said that I couldn't! There's a difference."

"Alright, then why _couldn't_ you tell us?" Vlad rephrased his demand back to the _Familiar _in the same tone.

Frostigi's eyes widened to the size of dishes before he sighed and looked away. "Nice going, Frostigi. You just walked right into that one," the little _Familiar_ muttered. Making a huge sigh, Frostigi turned slightly to glance at the billionaire and said very childishly, "because."

Both Vlad and Skulker's eyes twitched. Skulker was this close to shaking the answer out of the boy and Frostigi was getting on Vlad's last good nerve for today.

Vlad took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to reign in his anger. Now wasn't the time to blow his top, now was the time for action. Vlad reached into his suit jacket to retrieve his phone. Frostigi seemed to understand what the man was doing and began to thrash in the mecha's hold shouting, "No! Don't do it!" and "Damn it! Stop!"

Vlad was going to ignore the boy's please and demands when suddenly a voice echoed throughout the room saying, "That isn't a very good use of your time, Frostigi," which was followed by a pair of clock hands appearing out of thin air.

* * *

Danny stirred slightly. He was warm and felt overall pretty good. _"Wait, that can't be right,"_ the blue eyed boy thought. There was something sitting on his lap and he felt something covering his body. _"Did I fall asleep sitting up? The weight on my lap is too small to be TJ. Maybe it's Maddie."_

Danny opened his eyes drowsily and froze in a mixture of fear and surprise. What he thought was the covers of his bed or a blanket ended up being the dark cloak of the being nearby: Koŝmaro Magiisto.

Danny realised that he must have passed out at some point after he was captured and that the ghost magician used his cloak as a blanket. The small weight in his lap was the purplish-blue mouse-like creature from earlier.

Now, Danny wasn't exactly afraid of Koŝmaro, as many would probably think from the way the boy reacted earlier to him. No, it was more like who Koŝmaro reminded the teenager of that he was afraid of… Dan.

Danny had thought it earlier; Dan and Koŝmaro looked like they could have been from the same family. Glowing red eyes, pale blue skin and flaming hair; the similarities where so obvious! Heck! Even their fashion sense was similar in style, just not in time period. And their voices – god, their voices sounded so similar if you listened closely. If Koŝmaro had a snake tongue, Danny was going to scream!

If it wasn't for how much the man reminded the younger hybrid of the ghost trapped in the thermos in Clockwork's tower, he could have easily beaten him. Ok, maybe not, since their first encounter ended with Danny being defeated, but you get the idea.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case right now. The fact was, Koŝmaro _did_ remind Danny of Dan. The man before him _did_ scare him. And there was no telling what he would do to him.

"_Maybe if I don't move a muscle, he won't notice that I'm awake!"_ Danny thought. He kept his eyes half lidded so it appeared that he was still asleep. He saw that Koŝmaro was kneeling by the river (cloak obviously off) running his hand through the cool streaming water. Danny couldn't believe how… normal he looked.

For a second, Danny forgot his fear of the ghost magician. The man looked like the prince he was supposed to be. Actually, if you gave him a clock in his chest and a cloak of a different colour than the younger hybrid would have thought that he was related to the master of time instead of his psychotic evil future self.

Suddenly, Koŝmaro froze and turned towards the awake-but-pretending-to-be-asleep teen. He blinked for a moment before smiling. It wasn't a cruel smile, nor was it one that held maliciousness. It was a proper, kind smile! Who knew he was even capable of something like that after the way he acted the first few times they met.

"Well! Looks like someone is feeling better," Koŝmaro said.

Danny blinked in surprise. How did he know he was awake? Wait, when did he even fully open his eyes?! Danny was shocked beyond belief. Ok, screw the 'Koŝmaro's-a-nice-guy' idea, everything just got freaky again.

Danny opened his mouth and tried to speak, but couldn't get a word out before Koŝmaro said, "You gave me quite a surprise when you passed out. Tell me, did you recently get badly cut or injured?"

Danny gave a blank stare, that is, until the small creature jumped off his lap and into Koŝmaro's arms (or at least his good arm). "Well hello there, Purpura (1)," Koŝmaro laughed as the small creature squirmed up onto his shoulder. "Thank you for watching our little friend here," he continued.

Danny made a strange look that was partly out of being curious and partly out of being confused. _"Why does everything have to be so confusing?! I would give half my life to just have something make sense…heh heh, I made a pun. Ok, no – that was even worse than Tucker," _Danny thought.

Danny opened his mouth again and asked, "What happened?" Then he paused, realising that the ecto-gag was no longer covering his mouth. He decided to worry about that later.

Koŝmaro glanced up at the boy and replied, "Like I said, you passed out shortly after we arrived here." He gestured to the area around them for emphasis. "Now," he continued, "I believe an answer for an answer is required here."

Danny furrowed his eye brows and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Koŝmaro smile. "Well, I originally asked you a question – which you evaded answering by asking another question – and I answered you, so I believe a trade-off is in order. In other words, you still need to answer my question."

Danny blinked. That was a pretty good explanation and the younger hybrid couldn't find a way out of it without being tortured somehow. Sighing, Danny shifted his position under the cloak and said, "If you must know, I was captured by an organization that hates my ghost half – not to mention, can't stand my family – and they hurt me pretty badly. Happy now?" the last part coming out very snidely.

The ghostly magician thought for a moment. His scouts had told him about the predicament that the boy had been put in, but he didn't believe it was _this_ bad. Koŝmaro had checked the boy's injuries while he was passed out and, while they looked to be healing well, some of them either reopened or were still healing, but at a slower rate than they should have been.

Koŝmaro nodded his head in understanding and said, "I didn't mean to pry, Danny-boy. I'm just curious." Having another thought come to mind, Koŝmaro lifted his gloved hand and brought it towards the boy's face.

"_Oh joy, we're going play the 'how-much-can-we-make-Danny-squirm?' game. Why does life hate me so much?"_ Danny wondered as the hand came closer. The younger hybrid closed his eyes, waiting for the evil limb to start caressing his face again. Danny suddenly shivered; not from the ghost's presence and not from his ice core – at least not entirely.

Koŝmaro paused in what he was about to do – unsure if the boy would even let him. When Danny started to shiver uncontrollably, the magician made up his mind. He placed his hand on the boy's forehead and waited.

Danny was still shivering, but was shocked when the hand just stopped on his forehead. Danny opened his eyes to see a very serious look on the other man's face. By now, Danny had lost all feeling of warmth that had been coming from the cloak and was sure that he could see his breath. Not his ghost sense, his actual breath.

"What-," Danny was about to ask when Koŝmaro interrupted him.

"I'm checking your temperature. I asked if you had been seriously injured because I think you may have a fever. People don't just pass out for no reason."

Danny scoffed, "Yeah, it's not like I haven't been to hell and back and then kidnapped or anything."

Koŝmaro gave him a dry look. "I said that I only wanted my scouts to watch you, not capture you. Unfortunately, this is the case and now I will have to deal with it." The magician removed his hand from the teen's head and said, "You definitely have a fever. If you'd like, I could give you something that could possibly break it for you."

Danny gave him a suspicious look and asked woozily since the fever was really starting to sink in, "Depends, what it is?"

"All you have to do is hold one of my creatures until your fever breaks. If need be, more will surround the area," Koŝmaro said. He held out a hand while it glowed a deep purple. Suddenly, a creature that was the same blue as the others with glowing red eyes that looked like 'U-s' appeared. It was no bigger than a cookie jar with tiny bat-like wings and peg feet. Finally, the part that looked like the lid to the jar would pop up at different intervals and each time it did, Danny would see the icy glow that only came from ice related powers.

The younger hybrid watched it curiously and – before he could stop himself – he poked it. The small being jumped up and floated in the air before diving and snuggling into the stunned hybrid's lap. Danny could only stare. It was unusual to say the least, but it was more the fact that he didn't mind. In fact, he was feeling slightly better.

Koŝmaro chuckled and said, "I see that this type of my creatures fancies you quite a bit. Probably because they can sense your icy core. They're called _Profunda Freeze_ (2)."

Danny snorted in amusement. "How fitting," he said. Koŝmaro chuckled a bit, agreeing with the boy. Then he noticed how Danny appeared to be nodding off again, but was resisting the urge. It appeared to become increasingly difficult the more the Profunda Freeze released its energy and lay in the hybrid's lap. Koŝmaro smirked and allowed more purple energy to flow into his hand. Danny vaguely noticed and asked, "w-w-what are y-y-you doing?!"

Clearly, the cold was finally getting to Danny's human half and the fact that he wasn't showing much fear meant he was becoming comfortable around the magician. Koŝmaro looked the teen in the eye, but said nothing. Danny watched for a moment as several more Profunda Freeze appeared and just started to circle the area about the two other beings. He continued to watch as his eyes started to betray him and began to fall shut.

"Have a good rest, Danny-boy," Danny heard the magician say as everything went blurry. "By the time you wake up, your fever will most-likely have broken." Koŝmaro ruffled Danny's raven black hair.

Danny tiredly asked, "w-why are y-you helping m-me?"

Tired sapphire eyes met gentle ruby that also looked slightly sad. "Maybe, I had never wanted to be the enemy. You may find that we have more in common than… you… think. Sleep tight, Danny…" Koŝmaro said, his voice becoming distant in the sleepy boy's ears.

Koŝmaro was still next to the teen as said teen gave in to sleep. Letting out a huge sigh, the ghostly magician leaned against the same tree that Danny had been tied to. Koŝmaro closed his eyes and listened to the river as the water moved by. Then he felt a weight on his shoulder. Opening his right eye just a bit, he found that the teen's head had started to fall towards him but was stopped by the position the ecto-ropes put him in.

Chuckling, Koŝmaro snapped his fingers and the ropes disappeared. Without the restraints, Danny's body fell limp and was only stopped when his full weight landed on the magician. Koŝmaro smiled and relaxed again, but this time pulled out a book and read while he waited for the teen to awaken.

* * *

Two clock hands appeared out of thin air, stopping all conversation. Skulker got into a defensive position and waited for the intruder that thought it appropriate to interrupt them. Vlad didn't get into a visible position, but did transform back into Plasmius and waited calmly. But like his hunter friend, he waited for whoever would appear and teach them the meaning of pain if they chose to attack.

Frostigi stopped struggling all together and stayed in the hunter's grip; completely paralyzed at recognizing the voice. "Clockwork," he whispered.

Vlad and Skulker turned to him, both giving identical confused stares. Both had heard him speak, but the boy had been too soft and therefore, neither ghost actually made out what was said. "What was that, pup?" Skulker asked, but more likely demanded.

The clock hands made a full turn before landing at twelve o-clock to reveal a light blue portal of energy. "Skulker," the billionaire started, getting the hunter's attention but neither letting their eyes move from the portal. "Do you know any ghosts with that colour energy or what could create a portal like that?"

Skulker shook his head. "No idea, Plasmius. Whoever is about to come through there, I've never met them. The only energy that I know of that has a similar colour is weak, blue energy or ice energy, but I don't think either can make a portal."

"You are correct, Skulker," a wise voice said from the portal. Everyone's full attention was brought back to the portal just as the being on the other side emerged from it. His skin was the same pale blue as the portal, his eyes a deep ruby, but they held nothing but calmness and his hair was ivory white like Danny's. His attire was purple and clock-based. On his chest was the case of a grandfather clock; around his wrists were watches all set to different times; his cloak was held together by what looked like a gear with CW engraved on it. Finally, he held a sceptre with a stopwatch adorning the top. They were looking right at Clockwork; the master of time.

Skulker glared since he didn't know who the being was. Let's just say that Skulker got this information from Plasmius already from his trip with team phantom, but never got around to checking all of it. Skulker had gotten board of it when the group had gone to Pandora's realm. "Who are you and how do you know my name?" the mecha-ghost demanded.

Clockwork glanced at the hunter with a board expression. Ignoring the hunter for the moment, Clockwork simply said, "If any of you wish to save Danny, then I recommend that you release Frostigi." When no one made a move, Clockwork frowned slightly before saying, "Duck. Now."

Frostigi's eyes widened and ducked when Skulker suddenly grabbed his head to stop it from ringing. Frostigi ran and hid behind the time master as soon as he was free, which to Vlad seemed like it had happened instantaneously. Like one minute everyone was in one position and the next, everyone was in a new position. It was like comparing two pictures that followed a moment one after the other.

Skulker managed to stop his metal head from shaking and glared at the time spirit. "How dare you!" he yelled. "I – the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter – will make you pay for that. Even if I don't know how you did it!" Skulker then brought out a machete a dove towards the spirit.

Vlad's eyes widened and he was about to tell his employee to stop when he faintly heard Clockwork say, "Time Out!" and then everything slowed down. The older hybrid wondered why he was seeing everything in slow motion until he felt a weight around his neck that hadn't been there earlier. Looking down, he found the same medallion that he had seen Frostbite give Daniel before they'd left the _Far Frozen_. Looking back around, he saw that the hunter was frozen mid strike with anger burning in his green eyes. Clockwork moved away from his previous position – Frostigi following with a time medallion around his neck – and raised his staff. Pressing the stopwatch's button he said with a smirk, "Time In!"

Moments later, Skulker was trying and failing to pull his blade out of the wall. Turning to face Clockwork he growled, "WHO ARE YOU?!" Clearly, Skulker hated it when he lost, even if he was way out of his league.

Clockwork regained his stoic, emotionless face and calmly said, "I am known by many names; Father Time, Time Master, Meddler, Chronos, and occasionally by my employers, a Rule Breaker and a Cheater. But I preferably go by Clockwork; Master of Time and Space."

Skulker seemed to be taken aback and couldn't find any words to say. Ignoring the hunter again, Clockwork turned to the little _Familiar_ and said, "Go. Find Daniel. You know how to. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Frostigi nodded and turned towards the balcony of the room. Within a few seconds the boy was gone, leaving the three adults in the room. Vlad cleared his throat to say something but Clockwork beat him to it, "No, I will not tell you anything about the books nor will I explain the entire reason as to why I am here."

Vlad scowled but asked, "Then tell me this, Time Master. Why wouldn't Frostigi explain why I shouldn't have called Daniel's sister? And why did those… those creatures kidnap Daniel?!"

Clockwork sighed, but obliged the man. "Frostigi has been given strict orders to not reveal anything that he either knows he's not supposed to or what he believes will cause more harm than good. In this case, it would have been the latter. If you had called Jasmine, then she would have inadvertently told his friends and they would all have come back. This would then put them in danger, further hurting Daniel in the one place that might never heal; his heart, his soul or spirit. If that goes, so does the rest of him, and I've seen what could happen."

"As for why the creatures abducted him," Clockwork continued. "That was purely a mistake on their part, but now they'll have to deal with me."

Clockwork floated over to the window and glanced out it. Not being able to stop himself, Skulker asked the question on both his and the billionaire's minds. "Why does the kidnapper need to deal with you? Why not me or Plasmius?" Skulker didn't want anyone to get revenge except for him since it was his prey, but he knew that Vlad would want a piece of the action too.

Without turning around, the time spirit said, "It is I who must deal with it because it is within my vows as the spirit of time to protect the timeline at all costs. As well, Danny is under my care as part of my responsibilities and I cannot allow someone to harm him in the ways I've seen." Just as Clockwork was about to leave, he turned his hooded head and said, "But that doesn't mean that you or Vlad aren't more than welcome to come and watch."

Skulker and Vlad shared a look before the latter of the two nodded. They followed the spirit out of the castle and made their way towards the forest that Vlad knew very well. They came to a stop at the outskirts of the forest where Frostigi was waiting and practicing with his sword.

He looked up and was surprised to see Plasmius and Skulker with the time master. "Um… Clockwork?"

Clockwork nodded and said, "They are here to watch. You and I, however, need to confront Koŝmaro." Frostigi nodded in understanding and turned towards the forest.

With a glare he said, "They're in there. About 30 degrees east of our current position."

Clockwork nodded while Skulker turned to look in that direction. Vlad started rubbing his chin and mumbled to himself, "I think that's the river Daniel liked to be at."

Clockwork started to move from the edge of the tree line and into the Forest following Frostigi. Vlad and Skulker started to follow when the hunter realised that he and Plasmius were wearing medallions with a CW crest on it. He held it up to examine it better when Clockwork's voice broke the silence startling him. "I wouldn't take that off if I were you. Unless, of course, you don't want to see what happens next."

Skulker frowned and withheld a shiver from going up his spine. They continued to float through the forest – except Frostigi, who jumped from tree branch to tree branch – until Frostigi froze as he landed on a low branch.

His eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and excitement, his fur stood on end and his muscles tense. Vlad noticed this first and asked, "What is it?"

Frostigi turned his head slightly and said, "We're close. Really close, but it just got a few degrees colder. This isn't right. Not unless someone was using ice right now."

"Maybe its Daniel," Vlad tried to reason. Maybe the little badger had gotten free and escaped.

"Doubt it, cheesehead," Frostigi said. Vlad scowled and Clockwork seemed to be amused since he changed forms for the first time since arriving. He went from adult to old man. "If it was Danny, all of us would have recognized the ecto-signature. It's not him."

Vlad thought about it and realised that this would be true if that were the case. "So then what is it?" Skulker asked. He pulled up a scanner, but all he got was snow, which wasn't normal. The mecha-ghost hit his arm a few times, but gave up when the screen remained the way it was.

"I believe we've found Koŝmaro. This means that you two have to start being sneaky. He expects both of you and most-likely Frostigi, but not me. Try to keep out of sight and range," Clockwork said as he and the _Familiar_ made their way past more trees.

Skulker and Plasmius followed at a slower pace and invisibly. "This is so demeaning," Skulker mumbled.

Vlad chuckled and said, "Look at it this way, my friend. Now you'll get a chance to learn more about the person who created the creatures that attack you and damaged your suit." Skulker grunted in response, but it was clear as day that the hunter hated what they were currently doing. Vlad turned his gaze back to the direction they were heading in.

He saw that Frostigi was still jumping from tree to tree, not willing to touch the ground in case he accidentally stepped on a twig. Clockwork was not far behind him, but the old spirit seemed to tense for some reason. Vlad was about to go off on that thought when Clockwork motioned them to stop and move into another area.

Vlad nodded, not sure if the spirit could even tell if he did, and he and the hunter moved into the area Clockwork had pointed to. It was a grouping of trees with many branches that overlooked a clearing near the river. If one, were to say, hide in the branches, no one would see them and those hiding would see everything.

Plasmius and Skulker watched as Clockwork and Frostigi continued to the clearing. Finally, Skulker broke the silence. "What are we doing, Plasmius?"

"Be more specific, Skulker. Do you mean 'why are we listening to a spirit that neither one of us seems to know, but Daniel does?' or 'why are we hiding in this tree when we could be following those two to Daniel?' or perhaps the biggest question; why is Clockwork even here in the first place and what does it have to do with these creatures and the books?"

Skulker glared and brought out a pair of binoculars for him and then a second pair when Plasmius cleared his throat. "You know what I mean, Plasmius. All of the above… for the record, I count that last one as two questions."

Vlad sighed and brought the binoculars to his eyes to try and find his young rival. "I can only tell you what I know, Skulker. First off, I know for a fact that Clockwork doesn't lie. Heal manipulate the way you act or think by being discreet about it, but he'll never lie about it. Especially if it was to do with his vows as a spirit."

Skulker looked at the older hybrid before saying, "so, that really was Clockwork; master of time and space? A real spirit?"

Vlad nodded. "Daniel seems to know a fair amount about him. Apparently, Clockwork helped Daniel two times – as far as I know. Once for some incident where Daniel went into the future and saved it from some sort of destruction that I figured surrounded the boy. The second was when I gave ecto-acne to Daniel's friends. He went back in time to my college days to try and prevent me from getting my ghost powers. As far as I truly know, it didn't turn out the way he had wanted and eventually solved the problem in the present day."

"And how do you know all this? I didn't think that the whelp would tell you all this, even with the way you two where months ago," Skulker said.

"Right you are, my dear ghost," Plasmius said. "The little badger left in such a hurry the night I threatened his sister's life that he left his computer with his ghost files on it at the castle. But now that I think about it, I believe our little temporal friend had some hand in helping Daniel save Jasmine – not that I'm upset he did. From the way he spoke about Daniel back at the castle, I'm starting to wonder what would have happened should she have died."

Skulker nodded in understanding before saying, "I can't see them very well anymore. Should we move?"

"No." was the older hybrid's simple reply. If Clockwork told them to stay in this tree, there had to be a reason for it. Perhaps there was a trap or ambush up ahead and the time master knew wouldn't help them. "Here, we'll send one of my spy bugs to watch them from up close. You can easily get into the wiring and allow us to see a full screen of the area."

The hunter smiled and started typing commands into his PDA while Vlad sent his metallic creation after the two other beings. In no time at all, they had a perfect view of Clockwork and Frostigi who were coming into another sections of the forest near the river.

Clockwork stopped and looked straight at the bug for a minute before nodding his head. He must have known that the two were going to do that. Vlad and Skulker had expected the spirit to continue forward after that, but he remained still. Taking the opportunity, Vlad set the bug to land on Frostigi's shoulder.

A second later, the little _Familiar_ fell out of a tree and towards the ground cursing a faint '_Clockwork_' under his breath.

Clockwork continued forward and said, "you have only spoken for the first time mere days ago and yet you've already become accustomed to using my name as a cover-up for swears when something untimely happens to you."

"Hey, I can't help it if a do that. It just works!" Frostigi pouted. The boy then stopped and said, "Something… doesn't feel right." His fur and hair stood on edge and he was looking around furiously. Eventually, he spotted something blue and pointed it out to Clockwork.

The time master looked in the direction Frostigi was pointing and for a moment Clockwork let his expression slip and he showed pure shock followed by anger. Clockwork proclaimed a 'Time Out' before he and Frostigi could continue onward. Frostigi – not noticing the time spirit's doing – was about to step forward when Clockwork brought down his staff and stopped him.

"Hey why did you-" Frostigi started only to be cut off.

"Don't go near it, Frostigi. I've only seen them a few times, but they'll alert Koŝmaro the moment the see us. Go around," Clockwork said composing himself back into the emotionless state he usually showed.

The boy nodded in understanding and took a different route to their destination. In a few minutes, they were moving into a clearing next to the river. There was a tree close by and leaning on it they found the magician reading a book and the younger ghost hybrid asleep by the looks of it. All around were the small Profunda Freeze, mouse-like creatures and even a few of the humanoids; all supposed to be frozen in time, but weren't. As soon as they entered the area, all the creatures looked at them. This brought Koŝmaro's attention tenfold.

Koŝmaro smiled and stood up leaving the hybrid leaning on the tree. "Ah, Frostigi, I was expecting you. But not you time master. What brings you here?" he asked coyly.

Frostigi and Clockwork glared daggers at the ghost for several common reasons as well as their own. Oh, if only looks could kill… again. Frostigi looked like he was ready to attack when he demanded, "what did you do to Danny?!"

Koŝmaro's smile faltered slightly before he smirked and replied in a language that Skulker and Vlad didn't recognize, "Trankviligi vin libro spirito. Mi faris nenion por viaj mastro krom helpi lin venki febro. Nenio pli, nenio malpli." (3)

Frostigi snarled, "Mi ne kredas vin! Vi mensogas! Diru al mi la veron vi secuestrador!" (4)

Clockwork placed a hand on the _Familiar_ and told him to stop. Never taking his eyes off the magician, Clockwork said, "what are you doing, Koŝmaro?"

Koŝmaro glanced at the temporal spirit and said, "Hmm… I wonder why you would say that. Is it because… you _**can't**_ see what the future might hold now?"

Clockwork glared and Frostigi looked up at him with shocked eyes. Clockwork couldn't see the future of the timeline? Vlad and Skulker wore similar expressions of shock.

"That is where you are wrong, Koŝmaro," Clockwork replied. "True, because of a second power, my powers concerning you and that other power are very limited, but I have seen glimpses and that's all I'll need to keep my ward and the timeline safe."

Koŝmaro's smile left all together and both his and Clockwork's expressions changed to one of sadness and understanding. "I'll leave as you wish time master. Just know that this isn't the last you'll see of me. Oh, and please give this to Danny." He walked forward and gave the time spirit a small stack of papers held together with leather. Holding out a separate stack of papers he said, "These, however, are for you only."

Clockwork accepted the stacks and said he would give the first to the younger hybrid and kept the second. Koŝmaro smiled his sad smile and then turned to Frostigi. "Don't get into too much trouble… _Iom Antilopaj_." (5)

Frostigi scowled but then started purring when the magician ruffled his hair. As soon as Koŝmaro's hand left his head, he scowled again and mumbled an 'I did _not_ just purr.' Clockwork and Frostigi watched as Koŝmaro walked back over to the sleeping Danny. Grabbing his cloak and summoning a black portal, Koŝmaro sent all of his creatures through it except one. He turned and said, "I'll see all of you again soon. Come along, Purpura."

The purplish-blue creature scurried over to the ghost and into his good arm. Giving one final smile, the magician left. As soon as the portal closed, both Frostigi and Clockwork let out a huge sigh. Clockwork announced a 'Time In' and time returned to the world. The two made their way over to the slumbering boy making sure that Koŝmaro had been telling the truth. Not finding anything wrong, Clockwork opened another portal which Vlad and Skulker travelled through.

"How is he?" Vlad asked as he knelt down to see the boy for himself. Clockwork didn't say anything and just allowed the man to see the younger hybrid. Finding no faults, Vlad picked the boy up and nodded to Skulker. Getting the silent message, he grabbed Frostigi and followed the billionaire as they flew back to the castle.

Clockwork followed them all the way back. Vlad had half expected the time master to return back to his tower, but when he didn't Vlad started to wonder if it had something to do with what just happened or if it had something to do with Daniel. Whatever it was, Daniel had a lot to explain when he woke up.

* * *

Vlad put Danny in his bedroom and then he and Skulker returned to his secret lab to discuss what had just happened. Vlad reviewed several videos he had on Daniel and his life from the past few days while Skulker shifted through his own information and reports.

So far, they knew that this wasn't the first encounter that Daniel had with Koŝmaro and his goons. Koŝmaro seemed to be their book thief since the beginning, but his motive was still unknown. Clockwork and Koŝmaro seem to have some sort of history by the looks of it; or perhaps it was from a future timeline that they knew each other. Vlad figured that it was more likely a past encounter since Koŝmaro was from a time of Kings and Queens.

Koŝmaro sounded like he was working for someone else. And finally, Clockwork, Daniel and Frostigi were hiding something from everyone, but what?

Vlad wanted to demand the answers from them. To find the final puzzle piece that would make sense of all this madness, but he knew that he wasn't going to get it that way. Vlad transformed back into his human form and told Skulker to head back to his abode and rest. Vlad left the lab just as the hunter entered the portal and headed to his living room. There he found Maddie and TJ lying down –Maddie on a chair while TJ on the floor.

Vlad walked in and took up his usual seat next to the chess board and picked up the emerald king. "Oh, Daniel. What am I going to do with you?" Vlad asked no one in particular. TJ got up and strolled over to the man. Sitting down in front of him, he started to whimper and whine.

Vlad looked up from the chess piece and smiled. He rubbed the animal's head receiving a happy panting from the dog before saying, "I'm actually happy that Daniel has someone like you to look after him the way you do." TJ barked in reply as the man continued to think about the boy upstairs.

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny slept in the room made especially for him, unaware of what had happened, what was happening and what would happen in the future. Clockwork, on the other hand, did know.

The master of time sat in the lounge hidden in the boy's closet seeing the future play out from that moment onward. There were so many paths that it could take, but they led to two possible outcomes, just like when Danny had the option to cheat on the CAT-s.

Looking out to the now-night sky, Clockwork sighed. He had never been known to worry or to not be able to see the future, but that was the case right now. He now understood why people hate saying the phrase 'I don't know'. It was maddening. For the first time in his after-life, he was worried about what would happen next. He could see certain periods in time, but as soon as certain figures showed up, he was blind to the time stream.

Remembering something very important, Clockwork held out his hand as it glowed their unique shade of blue energy. A second later, the time medallions that Vlad, Skulker and Frostigi had been wearing appeared in his hand. Clockwork hid them under his cloak before letting out a huge sigh. He was doing that a lot more lately.

Glancing down at the badger next to him, Clockwork smiled fondly and rubbed the animal's back receiving a delighted purr from Frostigi. Clockwork would solve this mystery, for the sake of everyone's future; Even his own.

* * *

**Phantom: Time for some translations!**

(1) Purple. *that's right! I named it a colour!*

(2) Deep Freeze.

(3) Calm yourself book spirit. I have done nothing to your owner except help him overcome a fever. Nothing more, nothing less.

(4) I don't believe you! You lie! Tell me the truth you kidnapper!

(5) Little badger.

* * *

***Phantom sits alone with her ecto-computer***

**Phantom: hey everyone. I bet you guys hate me now. I gave you more questions than answers. Now, before you all start pouting, I have a good reason for it. If I reveal too much now, then I'll have nothing to do in the sequel. Ah, the life of a writer. Sorry, but you'll all have to wait for it. If you look closely at this story though, you'll see the hints I've put in and I will be revealing the answer to some of your questions as I continue this.**

***A big white and black blur tackles Phantom to the ground***

**Phantom: *Screams* what the hell?!**

**Vlad: Finally found you, you cleaver girl.**

**Phantom: Urgh, flattery will get you nowhere fast you fruitloop! *tries to hold back tears***

**Vlad: Oh, don't say that my dear. I wish to apologize. I was wrong; the way I had acted was unacceptable.**

**Danny: whoa, wait. Vlad is actually apologizing? Is it an apocalypse?**

**Phantom: No, it's not. And…?**

**Vlad: I wish to make it up to you.**

**Phantom: And…?**

**Vlad: what? What else could you possibly want right now?**

**Phantom: *smiles* I don't know. I just wanted to see how far you would go to make me happy again.**

***Danny and Phantom start to giggle***

**Vlad: *smirks* Oh, really? Well, before I can please you first we need your sister here. *snaps his fingers and in a puff of pink smoke Trainer arrives with all her pokemon in their pokeballs***

**Trainer: whoa, did everything just taste pink for a second? What did I miss?**

**Vlad: nothing at all. Now, for your surprise. *gestures to the writing room and all four enter***

**Everyone from DP: SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHANTOM AND TRAINER!**

**Phantom: *squeal* Thank you Vlad! *tackles the man in a hug that he returned***

**Vlad: you're very welcome, Phantom.**

**Trainer: You had a part in this, didn't you Danny.**

**Danny: Yep!**

**Note: Trainer and my birthday aren't until January 29****th**** and we'll be 18 by then. I would love to hear from you guys so please review to your heart's content!**


	16. Chapter 16: Family Connections

**Phantom: Hey everyone. Sorry for the long update, but I've been kind of busy with… a number of things.**

**Trainer: Yeah, she's been trying to finish her submission to university. Also, a tragedy has happened in our home.**

**Vlad: Perhaps it would be best if I say it. Phantom and Trainer have recently lost their dog due to illness and both have taken it pretty hard.**

**Phantom: I-I-I c-cried for h-hours! Ahhhhhhhhh.**

**Vlad: There, there, my dear. Everything will be alright.**

**Danny: Yeah, he'll always be with you and your sister.**

***Phantom transforms into her human form, still crying into Vlad's shoulder***

**Danny: Well, that was…**

**Vlad: Unexpected?**

**Danny: Yeah.**

**Trainer: Didn't you know that she was only half ghost? We are twins after all.**

**Vlad and Danny: Actually, I never even thought about it.**

**Phantom: *sigh* Thank you, all of you. I think I'll make it through this. But, I have made a decision.**

**Clockwork: And what would that be?**

**Phantom: As if you don't already know. I've decided to dedicate this story to my dog. Maybe not entirely, but he's getting a story dedication that I'll make at the very end. Stitch is also getting a chapter dedication. So I give you chapter 16.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Family Connections**

* * *

Danny woke up sleepily from his rest. His already messy black hair becoming even messier. Danny stretched and tried to stifle a yawn. Looking around, the young hybrid realised – albeit very slowly – that he was back at the castle and in his room. Danny scratched his head and wondered _"When did I get here? Did Vlad find me after I was kidnapped and… bring me back?"_

Danny yawned again and looked over to the nightstand to see the small digital clock. The glowing red numbers read 5:30 a.m. Danny groaned and flopped back down into the pillow he had been on seconds ago. It was too early to be up, but Danny didn't feel tired. In fact, he felt amazing – minus the fact that his back was slightly sore from being tied to a tree.

The black-haired teen rolled onto his side and attempted to fall asleep again. He tossed and turned and even started counting sheep. He stopped doing that when the sheep turned into ghost animals he had seen when passing by a farm-themed lair in the Ghost Zone.

Releasing a sigh, Danny turned towards his clock again and nearly threw it across the room. It now read 5:45 a.m. 15 minutes. For only 15 minutes he had tried to get to sleep and failed because… why couldn't he fall asleep?

Danny sat up again and positioned himself so that his back was against the head rest. Danny thought about the different reasons that could have kept him awake.

There was hunger: usually if someone was hungry, they tended to wake up to satisfy their body's needs. Danny discarded that idea immediately. He wasn't hungry, he usually just grabbed something quick for breakfast and so he didn't really eat a lot in the mornings.

Having to use the bathroom was ignored as well. If that was the case, he would have been in the bathroom as soon as he had awoken. He did **not** need to release anything at the moment.

Danny tapped his chin, trying to remember if there were any other reasons. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he had had with Jazz about a month after the Dan-incident where Jazz had found him getting a glass of water after a horrific nightmare.

"_Danny?" Jazz asked as she entered the kitchen._

_Said person turned and asked, "Jazz? What are you doing out of bed? It's like, four o-clock in the morning."_

"_That's what I should be asking you," she replied. "And don't even try to tell me that it was because of a ghost because you and I both know the reason for when you get a glass of water at night."_

_Danny sighed and placed his glass on the table before sitting down. Jazz followed his example and sat down next to him. "Danny, you know you can tell me what's wrong," Jazz said, wrapping an arm around her little brother._

_Danny flinched slightly from the touch, but soon relaxed again. "I know, I know, it's just… I can't sleep. Not without… you know what, never mind. The point is, I can't sleep," Danny said while rubbing his eyes. Dark circles were starting to form from lack of sleep and Jazz had taken notice._

"_If it's because of a nightmare, Danny, then maybe keep a journal or a sketchpad nearby. You probably can't sleep because you're thinking of too many things and can't focus on sleep. Most insomniacs have said that they can't sleep because they have too much going on up here," Jazz said while pointing to her head._

_Danny nodded and said, "Thanks, Jazz. Maybe I will keep a journal/sketchpad. God knows I need some mental relief from time to time." Danny hugged his sister and left to go back upstairs. He paused and turned to his sister before saying, "But, I will be hiding it in a place that you'll never find it. Can't have you psychoanalysing me without me knowing, right?"_

_With that, the two Fenton siblings returned to their rooms for the rest of the night._

Danny tapped his chin as the memory passed. Maybe he did have too much on his mind. He had been through a lot for one day; it was bound to catch up on him. On instinct, the young hybrid reached over to the side table for his journal/sketch pad that he had always phased into the wood until he needed it. When he came back with nothing, he nearly face-palmed for forgetting that he wasn't in his own home. So much for that idea.

"Ok, time for plan B, which would be the original plan; getting a glass of water and think things through," Danny said to himself.

He swung his legs out of bed and proceeded to make his way to the door. When he reached the knob, he realised that he wasn't dizzy, sick or weak. He felt… normal. Hmm, maybe Koŝmaro did help him. Just another thing to wonder about – why did he help him?

Danny shook his head and quietly made his way out of his room. He didn't want to use his powers since 1) Vlad would then sense him if he wasn't already in bed and even then might wake up because he could sense him and 2) all of Vlad's ghostly staff resided in the castle somewhere and he didn't need to get anyone up who may or may not alert Vlad. They were all loyal to the messed up fruitloop.

Danny snickered at his special name for the man and continued on his way. He passed by several doors and as he passed, he noted what he could remember each door had behind it. _"Bedroom, bedroom, closet, special hiding place in case Vlad gets mad, the place I hide one of my thermoses… hm, I'll remember that for later, bedroom,"_ Danny counted off as he walked.

When Danny got to the main staircase, he paused. If he recalled correctly, some of the stairs squeaked if you stepped on the wrong area; they had done that earlier that day when he first made the journey down the stairs. Now, which ones had squeaked?

Danny took a cautious step and waited for the unforgiving noise that would betray him to the castle and its residents. When nothing happened, he took another step, then another. So far so good. At least Bad Luck Tuck wasn't here. He would have said something like, "we're doing great! Nothing could possibly go wrong." Danny face-palmed again and cursed himself for thinking that because the next step he took not only squeaked, he placed his foot wrong and proceeded to slide down the rest of the stairs on one foot. Each slide making a loud thud as he went. When he reached the bottom, not only was his foot sore, but he fell forward and landed flat on the marble floor.

Danny lifted his head and muttered, "next time I see Tuck, I'm so going to blame him for this." with that, he stood and made his way to the kitchen. Thankfully, George didn't appear to aid him in his search for a glass of water and the young halfa left for the living room where Vlad had been just hours before.

He sat down on the couch and placed his glass down on the table. He picked up the diamond king from the chess set and gazed into the sparkling stone, watching as the moon light bounced off it. _"Ha, as if gazing into this was going to give me the answers I'm looking for,"_ Danny thought.

Danny placed the piece down and got into his signature thinking pose; he crossed his legs Indian style as well as his arms. He shut his eyes, furrowed his brows and his mouth became a slight frown. So many questions were bouncing around in his head, it was no wonder that he couldn't sleep.

Why did Koŝmaro help him? Why did he cure him of his illness? He could have just let him to suffer, but he didn't! Not only that, but when Danny had asked him flat out why, the man responded with _"Maybe, I had never wanted to be the enemy. You may find that we have more in common than… you… think."_ What did they have in common? The man reminded him more of his evil self than the current him. Maybe it had to do with the magician's past? He had read that the man had had a good life until an "accident" occurred and he was never heard from again.

"Gaaahhh, this is impossible! What am I supposed to think? The dude has had as messed up a life as mine. He's evil one minute then nice the next! I don't know what to make of it, I give up," Danny exasperated to the empty room.

Danny opened his eyes to see the room as it was before he went into thought. "You know, there are people asleep right now and you're yelling very loud for 6:30 in the morning," said a voice from the doorway. So much for an empty room.

Danny gasped in surprise and turned to the source of the voice. He then sighed in relief when he realised that it was just Clockwork. The time spirit must have stayed to keep an eye on him until he was needed back at his lair.

Clockwork floated further into the room and over to the raven-haired boy. As the time master past him, he dropped something into the boy's lap before sitting down next to him. Danny looked down and saw a badger no bigger than a cat. Danny blinked a few times but smiled softly as the badger tried to make it more comfortable. It was just too cute!

"You do remember that _Familiars_ can transform into a number of forms and that Frostigi's animal form is a badger, correct?" Clockwork said as he fiddled with his time piece.

Danny nodded his head in slight shock as he realised that the badger in his lap was really Frostigi. This was the first time he had seen him in this form. Danny sighed and leaned back into the cushions of the couch. Clockwork turned his attention away from his staff and stared at his ward.

"Clockwork?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"Do you… can you… explain to me what's been going on? With Koŝmaro and everything that's been happening?" He continued.

Clockwork sighed – yep, definitely doing that more – and said, "Yes and no. Daniel, something is happening – something big – and unfortunately, my sight is being blocked from time to time. Someone or something is impeding my vision of the future, so I can only explain bits and pieces to you. I can't reveal what the future will hold for you unless it involves a similar case like Dan, but I can tell you a little bit more about the beings you will or have already met."

Danny's eyes widened as soon as he heard "sight is blocked" and "impeding visions of the future". He quickly turned to his mentor – it was a wonder that he hadn't had whiplash yet. "W-w-what do you mean…that you don't know what's going to happen?" Danny asked.

"I said that I can't see parts of the future, but yes, I can't. Someone is blocking my view of the time stream, similar to how I prevent the Observants from seeing the time stream when I know they'll – how do you say – screw it up," Clockwork replied.

Danny chuckled at that and Clockwork gave one of his rare smiles. After a few minutes of calm silence, Danny said, "Ok, so you can see the future, just not all of it. But, what does that have to do with everything that's happened… unless; it's because of certain people that you can't see the time stream; like Koŝmaro!"

"No," was the time spirit's reply. "I can see some pieces of the timeline that contains Koŝmaro in it just like how I could see Dan's future. No, someone else is pulling the strings and I can't see who."

Danny thought about this and then asked something that Clockwork didn't expect him to ask – or at least not this soon. "Clockwork, who is Koŝmaro Magiisto? He shows up out of nowhere, beats the crap out of me, accidentally gives me and my friends some powers and then helps me later, after unintentionally kidnapping me."

Clockwork gave another sigh, like the ones a father does when hearing what his child has been up to and doesn't like. "How much do you already know?" he asked.

"Well," Danny said. "I know that he's technically an orphan since he was given to the king and queen of an ancient kingdom, so I guess that makes him a prince. He was gifted with supernatural powers that made him a magician. He disappeared but then returned the following year where the castle burned down and only he and a mysterious man had survived. Oh! And his name was given to him by a spirit."

Danny looked to his mentor to show that he was finished. Clockwork nodded and said, "That is all true. But like most stories, there is another part that most do not dive into or has been lost to time. Fortunately, I am master of time and so these parts are not lost to me."

Danny nodded his head in understanding. "Then, is there another side to this story?" he asked.

"Yes, and it could be considered to be quite dark," the master of time replied. "First off, Koŝmaro is actually a very unique child. He –"

"-Was born with his own powers. I know this Clockwork," Danny interrupted. He was then hit on the head with the time staff.

Ignoring the outburst and glare the young hybrid sent him, Clockwork continued, "yes, he was, but how do you think he got these powers?"

Danny rubbed his sore head and thought about the question. How did Koŝmaro Magiisto get his powers? It could have been that one of his parents passed on the gene for it. Or maybe he had gotten into an accident like Danny had at a young age and never told anyone. Or maybe… "Did it have to do with his origins or maybe the spirit who named him?" Danny asked.

Clockwork smiled mysteriously and said one word, "Yes."

Danny blinked and questioned, "Yes? What do you mean 'yes'? You didn't specify which answer you were talking about."

"I was talking about both. It has to do with his origins and the person who named him," Clockwork replied. "Think about it Daniel. How did Samantha get her powers or you with yours?"

"Well, mine were through an accident with a ghost portal and Sam's powers were sort of natural to her being and were just awakened by Koŝmaro's energy. What does this have to do with Koŝmaro and his?" Danny asked.

"Your powers are ghostly in origin while Samantha was born with hers buried deep inside her. Both of you in the timeline Koŝmaro came from would have been considered witches, warlocks and magicians," the time master explained.

"So, that means that, Koŝmaro's abilities were born to him but… were ghostly? How does that work?" he asked.

Clockwork raised an eyebrow. "How does one obtain looks or skills from their parents?" he countered.

Danny's eyes grew wide as he stuttered, "Wait a minute. No way. You mean he – he was – his parents…"

Clockwork nodded his head at the poorly asked question. "Yes, Daniel. One of his parents was indeed a ghost while the other was human and had their own natural abilities."

"So, does that mean that the spirit who came to name him was actually… one of his parents? Why didn't they just, you know, keep him? Also, would Koŝmaro be considered the first **actual** halfa?" Danny questioned.

Clockwork gazed off into space and closed his eyes. Danny watched before he let his own eyes drift to Frostigi as he thought. _"I wonder what Koŝmaro's parents were like. Besides his powers, did he look like them? Are they ghosts now… ok, actually, Clockwork said one of them was already dead so…"_ Danny continued like this until his thoughts were interrupted.

"Koŝmaro is in all meanings of the word a halfa, but he is a special case," Clockwork explained. "When a ghost and human have a child, several outcomes could happen.

The child could be entirely human. No ghostly attributes at all.

The child could be human but have some abilities that vary from many to almost none. I think it's obvious what Koŝmaro got.

The child could be born with equal parts and be a halfa. This is more common if the parents share more in common of if one of the parents is a halfa themselves.

The child would be born as a ghost or spirit.

Koŝmaro was born as the second option but when he died, he became a spirit because his father was a spirit as well."

"Wait. What? I thought that you had to be a master of something in order to be a spirit. You know, like you being the master of time or the Observants being masters over big boring council-y things. How is Koŝmaro considered a spirit?" Danny asked.

Clockwork smiled and said, "There are different levels of spirits, the same way there are different levels of ghosts. There are some lesser spirits who reside over something small like Nocturne with his mastery over sleep and dreams. Other spirits can control something on a much grander scale like Undergrowth with plants or Vortex with weather. Then there are beings like me who play a bigger role.

Koŝmaro is somewhere between the latter two since he is born from a powerful spirit, but not as strong. If I was to say what his mastery was, I would think it was his ability to summon his own brand of creatures. He would most likely be like the messenger for the spirits if given the chance."

Danny thought about this and decided that this made more sense than what he had originally thought about the magician. "So, why didn't his parents keep him? They must have had a good reason unless they didn't love him."

"His parents did and still do love him, Danny. They gave him away for similar reasons that humans do it today. The father was/is a powerful spirit and had no time of his own to spend raising a child – let alone his own. The mother was a lady of good standing, but her parents had arranged for her to marry another – not knowing that their daughter had already wed and had a child. To escape them, she ran away with the child and left him for the king and queen to find. She then disguised herself and worked in the castle so that she could watch over her child along with the spirit. They never truly left him until he disappeared. But because of their situation, they had to let him be raised by another," Clockwork said with his head down.

Danny didn't take notice of this as he was lost in thought. It must have been awful to watch their child call someone else mom and dad. Did Koŝmaro even know about his true parents? Will he ever? "Clockwork? Does Koŝmaro know about his true origins? Who his parents were?"

Clockwork sighed. "No he doesn't, and he may not know this for years to come. I doubt he even recalls who his adoptive parents are or his life before he disappeared."

Danny chuckled, which confused the time master greatly. "I guess Koŝmaro was right. He never did want to be the bad guy," Danny said. Someone who had so many great parents looking out for him couldn't be all bad, right?

Clockwork smiled too and said, "No, I suppose he is right about that."

Danny closed his eyes as he was finally becoming tired. "Clockwork?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know who Koŝmaro's parents are, or where they are currently?"

"Yes, I do. And both are still trying their best to look out for him," Clockwork stated.

A long comfortable silence drifted through the room until the raven-haired boy spoke up again. "You're not going to tell me who the parents are, are you."

Clockwork smiled fondly and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "No, Danny, I won't. As you know, I can only reveal so much before it messes with the timeline –"

"-and the timeline comes first. I know, Clockwork, I know," Danny finished for the master of time.

As Clockwork stood – floated – up, Danny released a huge yawn. That was his signal to leave. Clockwork grabbed a blanket off of the back of the couch and gently pushed the hybrid down into a lying position. Danny – still holding but more like cuddling Frostigi – looked up at his mentor with sleepy yet curious eyes as if to ask what the spirit was doing.

Answering the unasked question, Clockwork placed the blanket over his ward and said, "Get some sleep Danny. It's not wise for you to stay up to this early hour, especially since you've been up since 5:30." Danny sleepily nodded and readjusted himself and Frostigi into a comfier position before falling asleep. With that and a spin of a clock hand, Clockwork left for his tower.

* * *

Back at Clockwork's tower, a blue portal appeared. After two clock hands turned, the portal disappeared and left an adult version of the master of time in its place. He looked around the circular room. He looked at his screens of past, present and future. He saw the stained-glass window that overlooked the Ghost Zone. He took in the entirety the room – looking at every piece of detail.

Finally, his eyes landed on a picture frame hidden on one of the many bookshelves. It showed himself in his adult form standing – floating – next to a beautiful woman who had a newborn baby in her arms.

The woman had long brown hair that was tied back into a pony-tail and went down to her tail-bone. She wore a beautiful snow white gown with light purple accents and a small cape that came to her mid-back in the same colour. She was tall and skinny with her bright golden eyes shining along with her smile.

The child in her arms was wrapped up in a purple blanket where only his face was showing. He had a lighter shade of brown for his hair, but had the same golden eyes as the woman. His skin was slightly paler than most humans and at the time could have been mistaken for illness, but Clockwork knew better.

Clockwork picked up the frame and studied each occupant in the image. That had been one of the happiest days in his after-life. He absentmindedly started to trace his hand over the woman and child.

"It's not your fault, you know," came a feminine voice from behind him. The next thing the master of time knew, the owner of the voice had her arms wrapped around his right arm.

Clockwork turned his head to see the speaker and said, "Hello, Kristalo (1). How are you?"

The woman was tall and skinny. She had bright golden eyes and her skin was an extremely light blue – almost white. Her hair was long and went all the way to her tail-bone even after being put it into a tight pony-tail. The hair was sapphire blue and had a slight flame-look to it. She wore a light purple gown with white accents along with a white cape that only went to her mid-back. A 'CW' pin held the fabric on.

Not many knew her and she preferred it that way. In her life, she was a maiden who was going to be forced to marry another even though she had already married – albeit secretly – and had born a child. With the help of her lover, she escaped and came to a new kingdom where she gave up their child to the royals and watched over him as the head maid. Or at least, that's what everyone else knew.

Kristalo tilted her head up so her eyes met the master of time's and said, "I am fine, but you are not." She looked at the photo and said, "I don't like this anymore than you do, but like you told me; everything is as it should be. We can't interfere, no matter how much we want to. However, that doesn't mean we can't… cheat a bit." She finished with a smile.

Clockwork smiled too and placed the picture back on the shelf. "You know," he said. "You've changed quite a bit since you were alive. And I don't just mean how you appear either."

Kristalo smirked as they floated back to the middle of the room. "You have too," she replied. "But, you should keep your guard up. You never know what might be taken from you." She giggled as she floated towards the screens with the time staff.

Clockwork smiled but had to wonder how she always managed to steal his staff away. He floated up to the female ghost and wrapped an arm around her waist. The two beings stared at the screen which showed Koŝmaro sitting on his bed with Purpura resting on his lap.

Kristalo stared at the image with a motherly stare and said, "So, you aren't going to tell him who dear Koŝmaro really is and your connection to him?"

Clockwork stared at the woman and then back at the screen before shaking his head. "No, I believe I have been quite generous in giving him the clues I left for him. As for Koŝmaro, he doesn't even know who we are to him, let alone his adoptive parents," the master of time replied.

Kristalo sighed as the image faded and returned to black. "You can be so mischievous Clockwork. It's no wonder that our son is too," she said as she closed her eyes. Clockwork managed to take his staff back by this time.

"I am Clockwork, spirit of time and space. I know everything that has, is and will happen. It's quite boring to know everything. I need to have some fun every once in a while," he said.

Kristalo opened her eyes and asked, "Are we doing the right thing? Are we being good parents?"

"Like in my riddles for Daniel; we must live through the nightmare in the time stream before things can become crystal clear for us. We have to wait and see and face any and all consequences that might arise from it," Clockwork stated. "But in all truth, I cannot say."

"In other words; you don't know," she said bluntly.

Clockwork didn't answer but she could tell that he was really starting to hate that phrase. Smiling with her next thought, she snatched the time staff without Clockwork realising until it was too late. As she floated away, she started giggling and called, "If you want it back then you'll have to catch me, Clocky!"

Clockwork started to float after the woman and mumbled to himself, "of course it's the being that I marry that can steal my possessions." Then a little louder he called, "Kristalo, get back here. I have a job to do and I need my staff." With that he chased his wife around the tower trying –and failing – to get his staff back.

* * *

_An hour after Clockwork left…_

Vlad walked down the hallway to Danny's room to check up on him. He hadn't been able to sleep well and all because he was worrying about the boy. Did Koŝmaro do anything to him? Was the boy injured more than before? Would he ever be the same? Vlad didn't know and that's what brought him to this; a man with slightly de-shelved hair dressed in a black suit striding down the halls of his home.

As soon as the billionaire got to the door he walked in and looked at the bed. The covers were pushed to one end of the bed and the being who was supposed to be there was gone. Where did he go?

Vlad remembered bringing the boy in here just last night while the temporal spirit and Frostigi had left for the mini lounge. Wait! That was it! He probably woke up and made his way up there. With that in mind, Vlad made his way into the closet and into the mini lounge above it.

"Daniel, how are you -" Vlad began but paused when he saw that there was no one up there. "- not up here?" Vlad finished instead of his original question.

Vlad returned to the main bedroom and began his search in the other rooms staring with the game room and then the bathroom. When he didn't find the boy in either he began to pace. It was much too early for this. Vlad checked his watch and it read that it was close to 8:00 a.m. Vlad wanted to find the boy before breakfast, but it didn't look like he would.

With a sigh, the billionaire halfa made his way downstairs to the kitchen. There, he saw that his staff was already there and eating. George was cooking obviously and Niane was chatting with the cook. Patricia and Martha were fighting over whether Fantastic or Windex was a better cleaning product. Bennie and Jasper were eating plates of glowing scrambled eggs. And finally, Carl was sitting on a stool looking at one of the new car models that he would no doubt ask the man to buy later. The only one not present was Derek.

Vlad would have dwelled on it more, but he desperately needed a cup of coffee. Not having a good night's sleep did not agree with the man. "George, a cup of coffee if you please," he said.

"Right away sir," replied the chef. Seconds later, George came back with a mug and handed it over. Not really sure if he should ask, George looked his employer over with a critical eye. Deciding that it was better to ask, he took the chance. "Rough night, sir?"

Vlad took a gulp of the hot liquid and then looked at the chef. Sighing and showing how exhausted he was, Vlad said, "Something of the sort. This whole situation is taking its toll I suppose."

George and Niane shared a worried glance with each other, but everyone otherwise left the conversation at that. Vlad was about to take another gulp of his coffee when Derek finally entered the room. Normally, this would have gone on unnoticed as a normal occurrence, except when the ghostly butler entered the kitchen; he was smiling and looked as if he were laughing at a private joke. It was rare enough for the butler to smile but to laugh; something was off.

Vlad cocked an eyebrow at that and asked, "What is so amusing at this hour, Derek?"

Derek - not expecting the man to be in the room - jumped slightly and gasped. Carl snickered, but turned his head away and whistled when Derek glared at him. Composing himself, Derek asked in return, "What do mean, Master Plasmius?"

Vlad knew that his employee was hiding something so he played along. "Well, it is so rare to see you smile, let alone laugh, especially at such an early hour. Something must have caught your attention. Otherwise, I would have to assume that you're going mad." Vlad smiled at the reaction he got from the butler.

His cheeks were slightly whiter as he blushed and coughed at the embarrassing remark. "Uh, yes. Um, I did see something rather… humorous. I was just checking on a few rooms before coming in because I heard something. What I found was what put me in such a good mood." Derek wouldn't make eye contact with anyone as they all – minus Vlad – began to chuckle.

Vlad was smiling too, but he was wondering what Derek had found. As Vlad continued with his breakfast, the members of his staff went off to do their individual jobs. Every now and then he would hear giggling, each from a different member of the ghost staff. When he heard a twin set of 'aww', he had to investigate.

Vlad stood and thanked George for the food and left the kitchen. It didn't take him long to find out where all the noise was coming from. He made his way towards the living room at an easy pace; trying to imagine what could get his staff acting like this. On his way he passed Martha and Patricia who – for once – weren't fighting, but rather giggling like sisters do about a secret.

Vlad turned the last corner and into the living room. He walked in slowly and looked at every inch of the room. He knew he wasn't alone; he could feel someone's presence. Wait, no, make that two. Vlad walked slowly and practically made no sound as he went. It was only when he heard the shifting of fabrics did he light his hand up with an ecto-blast.

It quickly disappeared when he saw what the source of the noise was. Curled up on the couch next to the diamond and emerald chess set was the boy he had been looking for most of the morning. He was fast asleep with a blanket covering him. Vlad looked closer and saw something white underneath the blanket as well and the half dead child was hugging it like a stuffed animal.

This must have been what caught his staff's attention. He had to admit, it was as funny as it was adorable. Still, Vlad wondered what the boy was hugging. It was white and furry and he then dreaded that it might have been Maddie. Just as Vlad thought that however, a slight pressure on his leg told him otherwise. He looked down to see Maddie rubbing against his leg. He looked behind him, but didn't see TJ, which meant that he was still elsewhere.

Turning back to the sleeping child, Vlad began to wonder again. If Maddie was here… then who or what did the boy have? Danny shifted again, but caused the blanket to move down his body revealing his waist up.

Vlad nearly broke down laughing when he saw what Danny held. It was Frostigi in his animal form! Vlad couldn't miss this moment. He pulled out his phone and took several pictures of the scene. If he was to submit this somewhere, it would be a yearbook. Boys hugging things other than girls always make a yearbook funny. But blackmail would worked just as well.

Vlad didn't know whether he should wake Danny or let him sleep. From the looks of it, the boy had woken pretty early and snuck down to this room and fell asleep. With that in mind, Vlad picked a book off a nearby table – he must have left it there at some point – and sat in the chair next to the couch waiting for the child to awaken.

About an hour later, Danny began to stir and Vlad put down his book. Danny sleepily rubbed his eye and sat up. Vlad noticed that Frostigi was still in his arms as he sat up. In fact, the little badger was still asleep anyways.

Danny stifled a yawn and tried to adjust his eyes to the light coming through the windows. Vlad chuckled at how oblivious Danny could be and couldn't help himself. "Well, good morning sleeping beauty. Sleep well?" the man teased.

Danny - not expecting anyone to be in the room – jumped and whipped his head towards Vlad. His eyes were wide and devoid of their previous sleep. When he saw that it was just Vlad, he turned his stunned look into one of annoyance. Yawning again, Danny asked, "What do you want, Vlad? I was sleeping."

"Clearly," was the older hybrid's response. "But I believe the better question is why you are asleep down here, when I left you in your bed last night after coming back from the forest."

Danny gave a confused look at the billionaire and said, "I… just had a lot on my mind. Normally, I wouldn't need to leave my room, but since my plan A wasn't around, I went with plan B; get a glass of water and think. I usually end up on the couch when that happens though."

Vlad scratched his beard at the explanation. It made sense, but now he had another question. "And what exactly was plan A then?"

Danny absentmindedly began rubbing Frostigi and was then brought out of it when Frostigi started to purr. "Well," Danny said. "After I faced a certain ghost, I had trouble sleeping and Jazz found me one night. She recommended that I keep something like a dream journal; something to draw and write in when I have too much on my mind and can't sleep. It's worked so far, and it's better than my plan C when neither A or B work."

Vlad stared at him expectantly. Danny caught on and said, "Plan C is for a midnight flight, but that usually ends up becoming a patrol."

Vlad nodded, but still wished to know who this ghost that the boy mentioned was. It couldn't be the one that was locked up in a thermos in Clockwork's lair… could it?

"…ad? Vl…? Vlad? VLAD!"

"What?" was Vlad's so remarkable reply.

"I said; is there any breakfast Vlad? Wow, you really spaced there. Something wrong?" Danny said.

Vlad smiled and stood up. "Not at all my boy. How about we go ask George for something to eat, hm?"

Danny stood up too and nodded. The two hybrids walked into the kitchen and while Vlad went to ask his chef to prepare something, Danny moved to the small table with Frostigi still in his arms. When Vlad walked over to him, he found Danny staring intently on Frostigi's form.

Cocking an eyebrow, Vlad asked, "Daniel, what are you doing?"

Danny tore his eye off the animal and simply replied, "Trying to wake up this lazy animal, but nothing I've done yet has done the trick." Returning to his previous doings, Danny started to snap into the badger's ear, but that didn't work. Frostigi just readjusted himself. It went on like this for several minutes before Danny shot up from his seat and ran into the busy section of the kitchen.

Vlad was about to ask what he was doing when George and Danny returned to the table holding a large bin full of water. "Daniel, might I ask what you're doing with that?"

Danny smiled mischievously before he explained. "Well, when I refuse to wake up at home, Jazz does some things to wake me up. Depending on the severity, she chooses a method. Frostigi isn't responding to sounds or movements so…" Danny picked up the sleeping badger and held him above the bin. "A little ice water should do the trick." With that he dropped the animal in with a loud splash.

"**DAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ! COLD AND WET! COLD AND WET! DO NOT MIX WELL! DAHHHH!**" Frostigi popped his head out of the water and was met with a chorus of laughter. His attention focused on Danny though.

Pulling himself out of the bin, Frostigi transformed in a cloud of green into his humanoid form – still soaking wet too. "Oh, you think that's funny do you?"

Danny stopped laughing and gulped. "Um, heh heh. George, I'll take that breakfast to go, if you wouldn't mind," the young hybrid said.

George handed over a bagel with cream cheese spread on it and smiled as he said, "You might want to run young halfa. An angry badger is usually a very dangerous one."

Danny gulped again and said, "gotta run!" with that, he transformed and flew out of the room.

Frostigi flew after him saying something about Danny never seeing a day of his after-life after that stunt. Seconds later, Danny returned and said a quick, "Thanks, George!" and then flew out again.

Vlad broke out into a full on laugh while George chuckled and returned to his station. For the rest of the morning, the whole castle could hear Danny and Frostigi as they chased each other. At about noon, the two had exhausted themselves and were lying on Danny's bed.

"You know… I… still hate… you… right?" Frostigi asked, still slightly out of breath.

Danny grunted in response, still too out of breath to speak. "Looks like you two have calmed down. How about some lunch? George made quiche," said a smug voice from the doorway.

Both boys turned to the voice and groaned when they saw who it was; Vlad Masters. He was cleaned up from the morning and was currently typing away on a handheld computer. He paused and looked at them and said, "Well?"

Frostigi and Danny looked at each other and in unison, "Sure."

Danny and Frostigi followed Vlad down to the dining room. Danny talked to his _Familiar_ about what each of their powers was while Vlad continued to type away on his device. Neither boy paid any mind to the older man, thinking that he was just working on business. In reality, Vlad was doing business. However, it was ghostly in origin.

When all three were seated, Derek entered with three trays and gave one to each of them. When he saw the two boys he had to hide a smile. Even though he tried to, both still saw it and blushed out of embarrassment. They had figured out about an hour ago that everyone in the castle – minus George, but was most likely told by Niane – knew that the two had been sleeping on the couch and how they looked at the time. Both of them wanted to disappear, but that wouldn't do them any good at the moment.

Danny and Frostigi pushed aside their problems and dug in. Vlad, however, didn't. He was a little preoccupied. Before Daniel had been kidnapped, the billionaire had witnessed a new power in the boy; on several occasions in fact. Daniel could now create exploding balls of energy. Almost like an ecto-grenade. He figured that it had something to do with the black liquid the idiots in white had injected into the boy's body, but he wanted to make sure. If it could give the boy new powers, then why not him?

"Hey, Vlad. Aren't you hungry?" Danny asked.

Vlad looked at the younger hybrid and said, "Yes, yes I am. I'm just puzzled about something."

"What about?" This time it was Frostigi. He was licking some juice from his lips.

Vlad thought about the best way to phrase his response. "Well, it's about the liquid that was injected into you, my boy. I believe that it had something to do with your newfound power to make things explode. If that is true, then it could be that this liquid is useful for… other purposes."

Danny stared at his plate as he remembered the moment the liquid was injected. It had hurt. Especially when that Chrome guy electrocuted him to actually start the liquid. Danny could only think of one reason Vlad would be thinking about it; he wanted to see if it had the same effect on him. He had to at least warn him.

"Vlad, I know what you're thinking and I don't think you should try it. You have no idea what you'd be doing to yourself," Danny tried to reason.

"And what do _you_ know about it?" Vlad retorted.

Danny sighed. Vlad was **not** going to make this easy. "Vlad, look. You saw what happened to me. What that stuff did to me. The liquid itself doesn't hurt until electricity is added. Vlad, you seriously don-"

"What do you know, Daniel? You are a child and seem to be afraid of a little competition," Vlad said. "You can be such a little –"

"VLAD!" Danny was standing now and shaking from both fear and anger. _"Why can't he just trust me?"_ he thought. "Vlad, I don't care if you get a new power. I care if something horrible happens to you. I cared when Dazzler tried to kill you, I cared when we went on our little treasure hunt and I cared when I had to leave to save my sister. Vlad, I don't want to see something happen to you."

"Then why do you not want me to try this? Tell me that, Daniel," Vlad said as he reined in his anger.

Danny sat back down and sighed. Yep, never easy when dealing with Vlad Masters. "Before Agent Chrome injected the black liquid into me, he told me that there were two outcomes, and both of them could lead to death. One option was that my core would go into shock; the other was that the liquid would excite my core so that they could see what kind of core it was. Still, both ways could have killed me. They injected that stuff into my core. I don't even know if it's still in me or not and if it's harmful. After they injected it, they turned on the machine connected to it and it sent electricity through me; activating the liquid. I don't remember anything after that except that I was in pain; so much unbearable pain. I probably wouldn't even be alive if you hadn't shown up."

Danny turned away from the stunned man. He had only been able to guess what had happened when he had found Daniel in that room. He never imagined this. If what the boy said was true, then Vlad might die if he tried to use it himself. Was he really willing to use it and take that chance?

Vlad sighed and said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that, my boy. If it makes you feel better, I'll do some research about the liquid before attempting anything."

"And you have to tell me when you plan to use it," Danny added now facing the man.

The two stared each other down before Vlad relented and said, "Agreed." The two shook and then returned to their meals. Frostigi, having finished during the "talk" was happily waiting for them to finish.

* * *

The day had continued on from lunch with Danny and Frostigi sharing their knowledge about themselves and their powers with each other in Danny's room where they played video games until the late hours of the day. Before they knew it, it was time to get some sleep.

Vlad had said something about taking care of some work and had headed to his private study after lunch. He had gone through several piles of paperwork for his companies and then proceeded onto other forms of work; he went to his private lab.

He needed to know more about that black liquid. He needed to get one mystery out of the way, so why not the simplest of them all. He had run tests and experiments on the sample he had retrieved from the GiW headquarters and each time he found nothing. The liquid itself was fairly harmless, but added with electricity, it could be dangerous.

Just then, Skulker – along with Ember – flew through his portal. "Hey, Big Daddy. How ya been?" Ember asked. Honestly she didn't really care. She just liked calling him 'Big Daddy' since she knew it irritated him. Skulker rolled his eyes and floated further into the room.

"Hello, Plasmius. How's the whelp?" He asked, hoping to distract his employer from his girlfriend.

"Daniel is upstairs with Frostigi, most likely asleep. He's fine, but I got some interesting information out of him about his stay with the Guys in White," Vlad replied as he looked through a microscope.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dipstick is here? You mean what Skulker told me was true? Dipstick actually got caught?" Ember started to flip. This was something that deserved to be spread around.

Vlad turned to face the two ghosts and said, "Yes, he was captured and I – with Skulker's help – saved him. If you're going to spread that around, go ahead. Just remember to tell people that Amity Park is now under my control until Daniel is well enough to return. This means, no trespassing. Got it? Good."

Ember rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her excitement in being able to gossip this later. She was still technically a teen after all. Skulker sighed and asked, "So, what did you find out?"

"When Daniel had been there, they injected this," Vlad held up the vial of black liquid, "into his core and proceeded to electrocute him. It somehow gave him his ability to make things explode."

Skulker took the vial and examined it. "I think I've seen this somewhere before," he commented.

Vlad turned to his employee and said, "Really? Where? What was it for?"

"What, are we playing 20 questions now? Is it a thing?" Ember jumped in and laughed at her small joke. The two males ignored her as Skulker continued.

"Yes, I have. It's quite rare nowadays. Only found in one section of the Ghost Zone and no one dares go there anymore. Pariah Dark used to have it close to his castle until he was overthrown. That chunk of land was then thrown into a deep section of the Zone and out of sight. The land was covered with these plants that created two different liquids; both black and both dangerous," the hunter said.

Then the rocker ghost jumped in. "Oh, yeah. I remember that place. The only difference on the plants was that one bloomed black flowers and the other white flowers. They were a pair plant called Mortiga Promeso (2), or _Deadly Promise_. The plants with the black flowers had a black liquid that caused a ghost immense pain just from contact. Pariah used it on all his weapons so he could punish those who went against him."

Vlad scratched his beard. "So the liquid from the black flowers were deadly and painful. Understandable. And what of the white flowers?"

Skulker ran a hand through his flaming hair. "Well, it was said that they could restore a ghost's strength and improve it tenfold. But that would only be for powerful ghosts. For weaker ones, it could still cause a lot of pain even to the point of death. Judging by what you have here, I'd say that you got lucky and got a vial of white Mortiga Promeso liquid. However, both liquids are more effective if charged." Skulker thought for a moment and added, "You said that the white hunters injected this into the whelp?"

Vlad nodded. Skulker hummed and said, "Well, then that's how he got the new power. Still, he could have been killed if it hadn't been stopped."

Vlad took the vial back and examined it again. So, if he did use this, then he would need someone nearby to stop it and take the electricity away if things began to take a turn for the worst.

Skulker watched his employer already knowing what he was planning. He was only confirmed when Vlad transformed into Plasmius. "Plasmius, I don't think this is a good idea," he warned.

"Don't you think I know that? However, there are just as many pros as there are cons," Plasmius stated.

"Yes, but one of those cons if becoming full ghost, Big Daddy. Plus, what will Dipstick think once he finds you dead?" Ember reasoned. She may not like either halfa, but that didn't mean she didn't take them both into account when it really mattered.

"First off, there is a chance that I don't die as long as I am monitored during the procedure. Second, who said anything about not having the little badger here when it happens?" Plasmius said.

Both the hunter and rocker ghost stared at the man and before they could say anything, he teleported in a puff of pink smoke. Ember started laughing and Skulker gave her a deadpan look. "What?" She asked. "He uses _pink_ energy. **PINK!** It just doesn't look that threatening when coming from a man in his forties."

"Try saying that again when you're on the receiving end of it," Skulker said with a smirk.

Not a second later, Plasmius teleported back into the room with a dazed teenager and badger. After Danny regained his balance, he glared at the man and demanded, "What the hell, Plasmius. I was asleep. What in goddamn name are you doing?"

Plasmius frowned and hit the boy with a small ecto-blast from his finger and said, "Language, Daniel."

Danny sat up from the spot on the floor he had landed on and replied back, "English, Fruitloop."

Ember and Skulker couldn't help but chuckle at the younger hybrid's response, which earned them a glare from the older. Skulker coughed nervously while Ember laughed some more at the look on Plasmius' face. "What? It was clever, and totally a teenager thing to say," Ember replied before she helped Danny up and fist-bumped him.

Danny was slightly startled by the sudden generosity from the female ghost, but that was quickly reminded about where they stood when she said, "Don't get me wrong, Dipstick. We're still enemies. I just dislike adults more."

Danny nodded and turned his attentions back to the other halfa. When he saw the vial with the black liquid in it, he knew why the billionaire had brought him down there. "So, you're actually going through with it huh?" Danny stated more than asked.

Plasmius smiled his infamous fanged smile and said, "Yes, I am. And you are going to be on standby with Skulker to make sure that nothing goes wrong."

Danny's eyes widened and Frostigi became so shocked that he transformed into his humanoid form. Both then yelled, "WHAT!"

Before anyone could contemplate what was happening, Plasmius quickly grabbed a needle and injected the white Mortiga Promeso liquid into his own ghost core. Everyone was shocked. No one moved. No one breathed (especially the ghosts in the room). No one did anything, afraid that it might start something.

When nothing happened, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief. _"Why didn't it work?"_ Plasmius wondered. Then he recalled what he had been told and how electricity played a major role in it. Smiling again, Plasmius lit his hand with ecto-electricity and let it run throughout his body.

Immediately, Vlad started to feel the pain that was expected. That still didn't stop him from grunting and eventually yelling in pain and agony. No one had expected the hybrid to shock him, so when he did they all jumped. Especially after the scream that erupted from his throat.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Everyone started to call out to him, but Vlad could barely hear them. _"I hope I'm not going to regret this decision,"_ Vlad thought.

Every now and then he would hear someone call him, but it was very choppy. "..ey…Bi…Dad…dy!" "Pla…mius!" "Y…id…ot…d…n't…do…tha…!" The one that came out the clearest was the one that Vlad wasn't expecting to be the loudest.

"**VLAD!"** Danny yelled as he raced across the room. _"Please don't let me get there too late,"_ he hoped as he ran towards the pained man.

* * *

**Phantom: Translation time again!**

**Trainer: you guys get two this time.**

(1) Crystal

(2) Deadly Promise

**If you guys didn't notice the secret message in Clockwork's talk with his wife, this is what it was. Clockwork, Kristalo and Koŝmaro's names are all Esperanto. Not only that, but life (or time itself) can be a nightmare until you see things clear like a crystal. (Clockwork *time* is married to Kristalo *crystal* and have a son named Koŝmaro *nightmare*). Their names create the normality of life. Ha ha. Bet you wouldn't have gotten it.**

* * *

**Phantom: *still in human form* O_O; Did I just do that? … Yes, yes I did. I just left you all at a cliff-hanger! Ha! I can be so evil sometimes. Hey, guys. So, sorry about my little outburst from the beginning, but I'm better now. Really. I am.**

**Trainer: Yeah, we're all recovering slowly but surely.**

**Phantom: So just a little announcement. Trainer has the first chapter of her story up on her 'SpiritTrainer' page and it's called **_**Red Aura**_**. I read it and love it. If you guys like Pokemon, then go read it. I promise you it's really good.**

**Trainer: Good to know that you kept your promise to advertise for me. Anyways, yesterday we went to this annual Chilli cook-off where our family won two prizes. One for overall best and another for most trendy. Cool right? Anyways, while we were there, we got bored and began writing lines for a DP version of the Boom deyada song. So far we wrote lines for Danny and Vlad.**

**Phantom: Yeah, we'll have it up in a little while. But until then, maybe you guys can give us some ideas for lines for Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Dan, Ghostwriter, and other characters. Remember, it has to be a full verse followed by the chorus. If you don't know the song, then go look it up.**

**Trainer: Until next time, please go give my story a chance.**

**Phantom: And we'll see you later!**

**P.S. Have a happy March Break everyone!**


	17. Chapter 17: Shadow of a Doubt

**Phantom: Hey everyone. So if you recall, I left you all at a crucial part in the story.**

**Trainer: Yeah, Vlad was being electrocuted! Who did it? Well, let us tell you.**

**Both: One. Two. THREE!**

***both get blasted to the other side of the room by a green ecto-blast***

**Phantom: *Poking head out of the rubble* WHO DID THAT?!**

**Trainer: *Pops up too* WHEN I FIND OUT WHO IT WAS, I'M GONNA –**

**Dan: You're gonna what?**

**Both: *gulp* uh, hey Dan. What are you doing here?**

**Dan: I wanted to say what was happening and since I'm not really in this story right now, I thought I could have some fun here.**

**Phantom: Yeah! Dan fun today… wait, we're not going to kill anyone… right?**

**Dan: Unfortunately, no. We aren't. But that doesn't mean we can't mess with people.**

**Trainer: *smiles* This pleases me.**

**Dan: As the girls were saying, the one who shocked the fruitloop was himself. What a fruitloop… am I really half him?**

**Phantom: I really don't see any fruitloop in you. Or cheesehead for that matter.**

**Trainer: Can we get on with it? I'm literally hopping from foot to foot here.**

**Phantom: That's because your shoes are on fire…**

**Trainer: GAHHH! DAN!**

**Dan: Hey, I said I was going to mess with people.**

**Both: BUT NOT US!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom and some ideas are owned by Pearl84 and Truephan, but the plot is mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Shadow of a Doubt**

* * *

**Phantom: A quick recap as to what's happened so far for those of you having trouble following my thoughts. =^w^=**

_Alright everyone; here's the shortened version! Skulker was sent on a mission by some Ghost Zone residents to find these missing books. Vlad finds out and decides that he's going to 'help' as long as he gets something in return – preferably one of the books._

_Meanwhile, Danny and his friends keep getting into trouble, this time with a new ghost by the name of Koŝmaro Magiisto. The arrival of the new ghost brings new problems, new powers and more mysteries._

_Danny gets capture by the Losers in White – oh, I mean Guys in White – after making a truce with Skulker and gets tortured. Vlad gets wind of this and saves the boy as well as retrieves the books – both of which are found in the facility. Vlad takes it upon himself to help his rival with his new powers and bring him back to full health before returning to Amity Park._

_Over a short period of mere days, Vlad and Danny learn more about the books and the secrets related to them, but they are still lost on many things involved with them._

_When Danny recaps what happened to him in the GiW facility, Vlad decides that he's going to repeat the process that gave Danny his new powers, despite the warnings that Skulker, Ember, Danny and Frostigi make._

_All of which leads to now, where Vlad is yelling in pain – because screaming isn't manly apparently – and Danny tries to reach the man before this can all turn horribly wrong. As if it hasn't done that already._

**Trainer: And that's where we are now. So let's read and find out!**

* * *

It burned. It burned worse than being on fire after having lemon juice dumped into an open wound. The surprising thing was that it didn't burn in the same way as fire did. It wasn't warm because of his core – being a fire core after all. The most he felt nowadays was slight warmth in his human form – even during a heat wave – and almost nothing when in ghost form.

No, this burning sensation was cold; ice cold. ARCTIC COLD! Like when you get frostbite! And he couldn't stop it. Why, oh, why did he even do this to himself?

"**VLAD!"** The older hybrid opened his eyes slightly to see a small blurry figure making its way over to him. Oh, that's right. He didn't want Daniel having the upper hand again by having a new power over him. And now it looked like Daniel would be the one to aid him.

Vlad closed his eyes again as a fresh wave of cold, burning pain shot through his body. He tried to contain the scream, but it got out anyways. Danny ran as fast as he could and just hoped that he could do something to help.

When the younger hybrid had bolted, Frostigi and even Skulker had tried to stop him so that they could do something instead, but neither was quick enough to nab him. Frostigi muttered something under his breath about locking both hybrids in a thermos later and allowed his hands to glow green. He didn't move anywhere and just watched what Danny would do. He would step in if he had to, but for now, he would just watch and wait.

Skulker moved in front of his girlfriend while Ember made herself as small as possible so that her boyfriend's armour protected her. No one knew what was going to happen, but one thing was for sure; someone was going to get hurt, and it might be someone other than the hybrids.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. It was like no matter how fast Danny tried to run or how fast the electricity in Vlad's body moved, everything felt like an eternity of pain and suspense. _"Come on… come on. I've got to reach Vlad. Please, please whatever god there is out there; let me reach Vlad in time!"_ Danny chanted in his mind.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** A fresh wave of pain shot through Vlad. Danny gritted his teeth and decided to make a last minute ditch. Just like at the reunion when Vlad and he first met, Danny transformed into his ghost form and flew at the older hybrid. However, instead of flying through someone to get to Vlad, Danny rammed into the older man and hugged him around the waist; refusing to let him go.

Now, if they weren't in this sort of situation, this scene may look very sweet. Some may have even taken pictures for blackmail, but not now. Danny grunted as the electricity passed through his body and started to dissipate around the two.

"_Just a… little… longer. Arg! STUPID… FRUITLOOP!" _Danny thought. He was right; the electricity was almost gone, but that didn't mean that they were in the clear.

Frostigi was on a similar thought track as Danny sine he said, "Wow. I think Danny can handle this. Vlad hasn't even shown signs of losing control of any powers yet." Of course, Skulker and Ember didn't know that Frostigi knew what had happened in the Guys in White facility. He was just a book then!

Of course, the _Familiar_ jinxed their chances of getting out of this predicament without any damages. Just after Frostigi said this, Vlad and Danny screamed as a dark, black energy began to build between the two. The electricity was gone now, but the other energy was about ten times worse. Danny tried to keep his grip on the older hybrid but was steadily losing his hold.

"No, no, NO, NO, **NO!**" Danny yelled as he was then repelled by the energy. There was a bright flash of light and then it disappeared, Danny was up against Frostigi while Frostigi, himself, was squished between the wall and Danny. He had tried to throw up a shield before the younger hybrid could reach him, but he wasn't fast enough.

"Clockwork! That hurt!" Frostigi complained as the energy he had built up vanished from his hands. Danny and his _Familiar_ stood up and dusted themselves off. Ember poked her head out from behind her boyfriend and Skulker tried to dust himself off as well.

Surprisingly, nothing in the lab was damaged – not even the space where the hybrids had been standing or the wall that the boys crashed into. Ember stood to her full height and looked around finally noticing something was off; someone was missing. "Hey!" the rocker ghost said, effectively getting the other three's attention. "Where's Big Daddy?"

Frostigi and Danny scratched their heads with opposite hands before saying, "Who's 'Big Daddy', Ember?"

Skulker and Ember ignored the two while looking around the room. When they didn't see anything, they started floating around the lab trying to find the missing being. Danny and Frostigi watched as the two continued to search for... whoever it was that they were looking for. "Hey, Dipstick!" Ember called, but then she thought about the other kid with the ghost boy. "How about you and that other kid help us out with finding Big Daddy?"

Danny frowned but Frostigi scowled. The _Familiar_ growled – yes, growled – out, "What? Don't I get a nickname?"

Ember practically ignored him but muttered, "Ya don't get a nickname from me until I get to know ya. Up close and personal in battle."

Frostigi huffed in annoyance. Danny decided to play peacekeeper and asked, "Whose Big Daddy?"

Ember froze in her search and nearly broke down laughing, but Skulker stepped in before a battle could start. If he knew one thing about his employer, it was that he hated to have battles in his own home where either his Packers memorabilia or his lab could be damaged. If it was anyone else's home, well then he didn't really care.

"Enough! We don't have time for this. Plasmius is missing and we need to find him before something terrible happens," the hunter ghost said and then he and his girlfriend continued to search for the missing half ghost billionaire. At the mention of said missing man, Danny and Frostigi's green eyes grew wide before they too helped in the search.

"Vlad?! Vlad?! Where are you?" Frostigi yelled. His only response was the echo of his voice along with Skulker and Ember's. All three were searching the lab and areas around the lab like the billionaire's private study. Danny, however, was frozen to his spot. Vlad was missing? What… where could he have gone?

When no one was looking, Danny flew out of the lab and began searching the whole castle. Vlad had to be somewhere, right? It was a big home and everyone else was most likely asleep seeing as how late it was. "Come on, Fruitloop. Where are you hiding?" Danny asked to the open hallways as he continued his search.

* * *

_Right before the energy exploded…_

Vlad clenched his teeth as the pain escalated from bearable to excruciating. He let out a pained scream the same moment that the younger hybrid did. The electricity was now gone, but the new dark, black energy remained and pulsed. It took Vlad a moment to realise that it was pulsing in time with his heart/core – slightly slower than a normal heartbeat but speeding up due to the strain on his body.

Finally, the energy had nowhere to go and finally exploded. The older hybrid vaguely heard Danny say, "No, no, NO, NO, **NO**!" as the energy repelled him and was forced to let go of Plasmius. There was a bright flash of light and then it – as well as the billionaire – disappeared.

Vlad collapsed onto his knees and began to swallow lungsful of air. When his world stopped spinning, he looked up at the others in the room. Danny and Frostigi were in a pile against the far wall while Ember took refuge behind Skulker who had his arms shielding his face. Everyone looked unharmed and there didn't appear to be any damage to his lab. _"Good,"_ he thought.

Ember stood to her full height and looked around as if looking for something. "Hey, where's Big Daddy?" she asked still looking around the lab.

Vlad raised an eyebrow and said in his 'are-you-stupid?' voice, "Are you blind? I'm right where I was several minutes ago. Skulker, I believe something is wrong with your –" Vlad paused seeing his right-hand man – ghost – aiding in the search. "Please tell me this is some cruel joke to teach me some sort of lesson," the hybrid asked.

Frostigi and Danny scratched their heads with opposite hands before saying, "Who's 'Big Daddy', Ember?"

Vlad let out a sigh. Well, at least those two he could understand. They could probably ignore anyone in the room and not even notice if someone left or not. Then again, even this was too far for them.

"Daniel, could you please tell Skulker and Ember to knock this off. I'm not amused in the slightest and-" Vlad gasped as Ember floated through him to search another section of the room. Vlad turned to the rocker ghost and stammered, "h-how did you do that? Neither one of us was intangible."

He expected a response or a few gasps from the other beings in the room, but everyone went on as if he wasn't even there.

"Hey, Dipstick!" Ember called, focusing all attention on her. "How about you and that other kid help us out with finding Big Daddy?"

Vlad growled, "I'm right here you insufferable siren! Now you better tell me what's going on and how you pulled that stunt earlier or so help me!"

Daniel looked frustrated but Frostigi looked down right ferocious. Soon, the _Familiar_ and rocker ghost got into a verbal fight. Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "They better not destroy anything or they'll be in such a world of pain, death will have looked like a cakewalk in comparison," Vlad grumbled.

Thankfully, Skulker stepped in to stop them from going into a physical battle. "Enough! We don't have time for this. Plasmius is missing and we need to find him before something terrible happens," the hunter ghost said and then he and his girlfriend continued to search for the missing half ghost billionaire.

Plasmius face-palmed and dragged his gloved hand down the length of his face. Taking a deep breath, Vlad tried to calm himself down and think about the situation rationally while three of the four other occupants continued their search for him.

First of all, after injecting himself with the liquid, he purposefully electrocuted himself so that he may gain a new ability like Daniel had.

Secondly, after said electrocution, Daniel tried to aid him so that he wouldn't die. Vlad paused in his musings and smiled as he thought, _"Good Boy."_

Thirdly, once the electricity was nearly gone, a new energy – one that was black, similar to his own transformation rings – formed between them. Said energy then blasted Daniel away while he, himself, dropped to his knees.

Forth of all, now no one could see or hear him; and judging from the fact that Ember passed through him when neither were intangible, it was safe to assume that no one could touch him either. Whatever that energy was, Vlad now knew that it had something to do with his current state.

Vlad became worried. "What if I've actually fully died? Perhaps I've been killed even further than an after-life." Vlad scratched his beard. Well, there was only one way to find out. Vlad transformed back into Masters. He smiled and morphed back. Well, he certainly wasn't dead or he wouldn't be able to do that still.

"Vlad?! Vlad?! Where are you?" Frostigi yelled. His only response was the echo of his voice along with Skulker and Ember's. All three were searching the lab and areas around the lab like the billionaire's private study. To say Vlad was annoyed was an understatement. He wanted everyone to stop searching for him, but how could he when no one could hear, see or feel him? Even the boy's natural ghost sense wasn't picking him up!

Vlad rubbed his forehead and wondered how much longer this nonsense would go on for. He saw Skulker, Ember and Frostigi frantically searching for him… wait, that wasn't right. Daniel was still in the room, wasn't he? Vlad turned back to where he last saw the boy only to find that the child looked like a statue. His eyes were wide and almost panicky as he stared off into space; lost in his own thoughts.

Vlad watched as Danny flew out of the lab and began searching the whole castle. Vlad looked back at the other three debating whether or not to follow the boy or continue with his efforts to try and get one of the other ghosts' attentions. He decided to follow the boy.

As he caught up, he heard Danny ask the open hallways, "Come on, Fruitloop. Where are you hiding?" Plasmius followed Danny through several rooms including the living room, guest bedrooms, ballroom, and many hallways. Finally, Danny returned to the lab and asked, "Any sign of him?"

Frostigi looked up and shook his head. He then floated up to Danny and said, "Skulker went to check the outside grounds and Ember went into the Ghost Zone. If Skulker doesn't find anything, he's going to try the Ghost Zone as well."

Danny nodded absentmindedly before he turned to head back out of the room. Frostigi stopped him and asked, "Where are you going?"

Danny looked at his _Familiar_ and stated, "I've search more or less the rest of the castle. I didn't find him, but I kept feeling his presence. It's weird; like he was both there and yet not there. I'm going to my room. Tell me if you find anything, ok?"

Frostigi nodded and continued his inspection of the lab. Danny floated out of the lab and through walls and ceilings until he came to his room. Vlad followed him the whole way trying to devise a way to communicate with the younger hybrid.

Danny walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror; he looked like a wreck, but what else could he look like when he was disturbed from his sleep just to end up trying to find the one who woke him?

Danny turned on the tap and waited for the water to chill. Vlad watched his young rival, but quickly grew bored. There had to be some way of getting the boy's attention, but how? Vlad started to pace around the room, unaware of the pair of eyes watching him… sort of.

Danny was about to splash his face when he saw something in the mirror; a dark shadow on the floor was moving back and forth, but there was nothing over it. It was like those creatures that the magician ghost owned that could turn into shadows and move about in that form. Only thing was, this was too big to be one of them.

"_Maybe it's one that you've never seen before,"_ a voice spoke inside Danny's mind. The young hybrid gulped at that. That could be the case; it was very possible that he hadn't seen all of the magician's 'pets'. Danny glared and formed a small ecto-blast in his finger and pointed it like a gun at the shadow. "Show yourself, whoever you are," Danny exclaimed.

Vlad jolted out of his musings at the sound of Daniel's voice. _"Was he talking to me?"_ Vlad wondered and turned to see that Daniel was pointing his ecto-ray at the billionaire's shadow. What Vlad didn't know, was that when he jolted, so did the shadow that Danny was seeing.

"Yeah, I see you there! Now show yourself! I know that you guys can become shadows anytime you want and the same applies to when you want to be in a solid form," Danny stated in a 'matter-of-factly' tone.

Vlad glared and said, "I don't know what you're going on about, boy, but I don't see what you're getting at." Of course, Danny couldn't hear him, so this just made the younger hybrid even more ticked off.

"Fine, have it your way. But know this, I'm not in the best of moods right now, so if you don't show yourself, I'll make you," he said and started firing at the shadow.

Surprisingly, nothing happened to Vlad as Danny continued to fire at him. In fact, Plasmius was just getting more and more annoyed as time went on. Vlad felt that he had had enough of this and made his way out of the room. Danny followed, still trying to harm the shadow as it moved. When Vlad and Danny had moved into the hallway, Vlad was seething. Not only was the boy not making any sense, but he was also scorching his home. If any of those blasts hit any of his Packers stuff, he was going to –

*bam*

"Oops. Aw man, Vlad is so going to kill me for that," he heard Danny say. Vlad froze and slowly turned to see what had made the boy say that. On the ground was one of the few pieces of artwork that he actually prized; a painting of the original Packers mascot. Yes, it was just a painting that he had commissioned of the actual badger that the Packers mascot was based on, but it held some sentimental value to the billionaire. Danny quickly put it out, but the corner of the piece that had been hit was now ruined.

Vlad's eyes blazed as he saw this and went to grab the younger hybrid to teach him a lesson. Forget the fact that he was still injured, Vlad was going to make him pay for that.

Danny squeaked in surprise as the shadow before him melted and moulded into Vlad Plasmius; who looked like he was about to kill someone. "Um, uh, h-h-hi V-V-Vlad. W-w-where have you b-b-been?" Danny asked meekly.

Vlad glared and responded, "I never left. In fact, I've been here the entire time. You and the others couldn't seem to hear, see, touch or sense me though. So, _**Little Badger**_," Vlad growled, "care to explain **WHAT IN THE NAME OF GHOSTS WERE YOU DOING**?"

Danny gulped again and said very fast, "wellyouwentmissingandwewereallworriedthatsomethin greallybadhappenedand –"

"DANIEL!" Vlad yelled causing the child to stop. "Try again, but slower," he said while he crossed his arms as if scolding his child – which in a sense, he sort of was.

Danny took a deep breath and then tried again. "After that black energy exploded, you went missing so we all started looking for you, but we couldn't find you. So I was going to head to bed seeing as I couldn't track you down. However, when I got into the bathroom, I saw this shadow on the floor moving around without something above it so I thought that it was one of Koŝmaro's creatures since some of them had this ability to turn into shadows. Now that I think about it though, even when I tried to shoot them while they were shadows I couldn't hurt them. So, thinking that the shadow was one of them, I tried to scare it off, but one of my shots was off and hit that painting and now I'm explaining this all to you. But you just said that you were here the whole time so you already knew that and… I'm in big trouble aren't I?" Danny looked up only to be met with a frown and a pair of glowing red eyes.

Vlad looked the younger hybrid over and said in a monotone, "Yes, yes you are seeing how you managed to destroy one of my more favoured pieces." Danny looked at the painting to see that it was a badger surrounded by a bunch of Packers stuff. Danny looked away from the painting embarrassed by the way he acted. He could have said an apology or something along the lines of 'it's just a painting', but thought it better to stay quiet.

Vlad sighed and transformed back into Masters. Danny took that his signal and morphed back into Fenton. The raven-haired child didn't know what the billionaire was planning considering the fact that not only had Danny been shooting at him, but also burnt the corner of the painting that Vlad seemed to be fond of.

Vlad placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder and led him down the halls back to Danny's room. Danny didn't try to resist knowing that that would just get him into even more trouble and possibly earn him a shock or something. As they entered, Vlad pushed Danny onto the bed and calmly sat on the edge next to him. Danny refused to look at the man and was hoping that the older hybrid would just leave and let him go to sleep. _"Darn it! Where's Desiree when you need her?"_ Danny thought as the silence stretched on and made the whole moment awkward.

"Seeing as how you had a valid reason for shooting, I won't hold this entirely against you… this time," Vlad said, startling the boy out of his thoughts.

Danny took a chance and looked up at the man; his eyes where slowly returning to their normal blue, but he still wore a frown and looked somewhat confused. Danny rubbed his arm and finally said, "Um, ok, who are you and what have you done to the real Vlad?"

His response was a smack upside the head. "OW! What was that for you fruitloop?" he demanded as he rubbed his sore head.

"That was for getting cocky, plus, I said I wouldn't hold this _entirely_ against you. That doesn't mean that you are off the hook just yet Little Badger," Vlad stated with a smile that was more like a smirk to Danny.

"Yeah, whatever. Can you leave now? I want to go to sleep considering that it's now past midnight," Danny stated and tried to pull the covers over his head hoping that Vlad would get the idea.

Vlad frowned and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand; it read 1:57 a.m. Vlad sighed and rubbed his tired eyes, finally realising how exhausted he felt from the day's events. He need some sleep as well, but he needed to know one thing first.

Vlad ripped the covers off the teen and ignored the annoyed 'hey' that followed. Before the teen could speak, Vlad asked, "Daniel, you said that you've seen this power before. Where have you seen it and by whom? This is most likely the power I've received from my attempt with that liquid so now I need to know as much as possible about it."

Danny gave a blank stare before it turned into a scowl. Danny grabbed the covers and threw them over his head again and said, "kahn ee tak ahbout hiss ater? Ike in ha morn-ng?"

Vlad raise an eyebrow and said, "Pardon me?"

Danny removed his head from the covers and said hotly, "I said, can we talk about this later? Like in the morning?" When Vlad just stared at him, he sighed annoyed and added, "I'll tell you about it in the morning. Chances are that you already know something about it but don't remember. Heh, maybe you're finally going senile in your old age."

Vlad glared and said, "Fine, we'll discuss this in the morning. And I'll remind you of this now; I'm only in my forties like your parents."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Danny said, not sounding all that apologetic. "You could have fooled me with the colour of your hair."

Vlad scowled before he smirked at his next thought. "Well I guess you do understand since you style the same colour half the time."

Danny quickly shot a glare at the billionaire before turning away to try and sleep… again. Frostigi came up seconds later and plopped onto the bed turning into a badger before falling asleep too. He didn't even realise that he walked right past Vlad to even get to the bed.

Vlad shook his head as he chuckled about the occurrence. Tomorrow Daniel would tell him about this new power. As Vlad walked down the halls back to his personal lab, the younger hybrid's words rang in his ears. _"I'll tell you about it in the morning. Chances are that you already know something about it but don't remember…"_ Vlad shook his head. What could Daniel know? He was only fifteen. Barely out of school and didn't know how to drive – at least not well. "I'll just have to think it over later. Perhaps I am overlooking something," Vlad mumbled seeing how this thought wouldn't leave him alone until he found some way to resolve it.

With that done, Vlad continued to his lab in hopes of finding Skulker and a few answers before he retired for the night.

* * *

Skulker wasn't happy, but then again… who wouldn't be at such an ungodly hour. He had every right to be unhappy; mad even. All he was going to do was check in with his employer and see if everything turned out ok for the whelp. Then he was just going to return home. Needless to say, he was not in the mood for anything, much less looking for the older hybrid.

Then there was the matter of his girlfriend. She had seen him flying off to Plasmius' portal and pretty much tagged along despite the hunter ghost's pleads for her to just go home or wait for him on his island. No, she never did anything she didn't want to do and that included missing an opportunity to bug "Big Daddy" and the whelp. _"What was it she called him again… oh, that's right; Dipstick,"_ Skulker thought as he passed by another courtyard tree. He recalled what happened before he even arrived at the castle and how Ember finally won him over in allowing her to tag along.

"_Hey, Skulker!" a voice called out from across the Ghost Zone to the metallic hunter. Skulker turned around to see Ember McClain – his girlfriend – sitting on a floating rock nearby. She was wearing her classic look; black top and pants along with one black glove. She wore her studded belt, several earrings and her gothic-styled rocker boots. Her flaming hair was down, but she was tying it back up with her hair-tie. Her green eyes looked the hunter ghost over and said, "What happened to you? You look like something that Bertrand dragged in." Obviously, she had seen the shape shifter recently and he was in his jaguar form._

_It was true though; Skulker looked like a wreck. Skulker ran a hand through his own flaming hair and said, "I've had a rough couple of days since I'm dealing with an assignment as well as the chaos at Plasmius' place."_

_Ember tilted her head and smirked. "Well, if you're headed to his place now, why don't I join you?" Skulker's face was priceless and Ember couldn't help but laugh at that._

_Instantly, Skulker frowned and replied, "No. I'm going on personal business and I can't have you getting caught up in the middle of it. Especially since the whelp might not take too kindly to my arrival, let alone yours." Skulker was about to fly off when Ember floated over with a confused look on her face._

"_Since when do you call Plasmius a whelp? Unless, you were talking about Dipstick! Wait, why is he over at Big Daddy's? Ha, I doubt it's willingly, or maybe he isn't even there and it's just another hologram," Ember stated and was laughing by the end of it._

_Skulker's frown deepened. "No, it __**is**__ the real whelp and he __**is**__ at Plasmius' castle. He and I recently made a temporary truce so that I could finish my assignment faster, but those Hunters in White had caught him soon after. After that, Plasmius has been taking care of him."_

"_I'll believe it when I see it," she retorted. Skulker missed her smirk as she had crossed her arms waiting for a response._

_Skulker growled, "Fine! I'm going to bring you with me just so you can see for yourself and eat those words."_

_Ember full on smiled and started to float to the Wisconsin portal. "Alright, if I must," she said, but couldn't stop the laughter the erupted from her seconds later. Skulker scratched his head until he realised that his girlfriend just played him like a violin and got him to let her tag along._

"_I need a raise," Skulker grumbled as he followed after the rocker ghost._

And now, here he was looking for his employer after he disappeared. It had been about an hour since he had left to check the outside grounds for Plasmius and still he found nothing! Maybe he was losing his touch. Skulker shook his head at the thought. No, he was the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter; he could track anything! "_Anything but the whelp when those creatures dragged him into the shadows,"_ a voice in the hunter's head said.

Skulker frowned again and said, "I definitely need a raise." Skulker did one more sweep of the courtyard and decided to head back to the Ghost Zone. Hopefully, Plasmius would turn up and he could find Ember and escort her home.

Just as Skulker phased through the wall to the main lobby, his tracker went off. Startled, Skulker yelped before pulling up the scanner on his arm. It said that Plasmius was in the lab where he had last been seen. Smiling, the hunter ghost flew back to the lab. Just as he was about to land in the lab, the signal died. Skulker scowled and started hitting his arm to hopefully get the device to work again. It didn't.

Skulker walked in and saw that the lab was empty. "Plasmius?" he called. No answer. He continued forward into the lab; his metallic armour echoing throughout the room. "Plasmius, are you here?" he called once again.

Skulker shifted his eyes back and forth. For some reason, he felt like he was being watched. Skulker was next to the portal now and made it look like he was going to step through it, but instead he turned around swiftly and aimed a gun at the floor. Why, you might ask? Well, that's because there was a shadow without a form above it right behind the hunter.

Skulker heard a faint chuckling before the shadow began to rise and form into a new shape. The being then said, "Hmm, perhaps you **are** getting better at sensing shadow abilities." The form turned into Vlad Masters and he was smirking.

Skulker watched in a mixture of awe and astonishment. With an uneasy smirk he said, "So it would appear. I'm guessing that you did get a new ability after all, Plasmius."

Vlad chuckled again. "Yes, though I don't know that much about it other than that it allows me to move about as a shadow. The only downside so far is that no one can see, touch or hear me while I'm in that state. Daniel seems to know something about it and was going to tell me tomorrow. However, I was wondering if you knew anything useful about this ability."

Skulker gave him a 'really?' look and said, "Plasmius, you've seen this ability before. Those small mouse-like creatures the book thief had could do it. That's how they kidnapped the whelp earlier, remember?"

Vlad nearly face-palmed, but managed to stop himself. That's what Daniel had meant earlier. He had forgotten all about that with everything else that was going on. Vlad nodded and was going to tell his employee that he could leave when said employee spoke first.

"You know, I think I may know someone in the Ghost Zone who may know something about controlling that ability of yours," he said hoping to spark an interest.

"Oh? And who is it?" Vlad asked. If someone knew something, then he wanted to know too.

Skulker smirked. "I'll bring them here in a few days. I have to track them down first. However, I want payment for my services."

Vlad scowled and stated, "I don't believe you need another one so soon. Those new wings I gave you should have been enough payment for the time being."

Skulker was still smirking and replied, "Well, I still have my assignment of finding those books to do. I still need to return them and I have a feeling that you have them in your possession currently." Vlad tried to look as if nothing was wrong as the hunter continued. "However, we agreed that if you did find them in the human world that I would let you keep one. I don't need the others right away, but I expect them in return for my services from all of this. And perhaps a new gun…"

Vlad rolled his eyes. "Alright, I will give you the books in due time, but Skulker, don't push your luck. Like I said, the wings should be enough payment for now." With that, the billionaire made his way out of the lab and Skulker returned to the Ghost Zone to find Ember.

Vlad smirked and watched as he turned his hand into a shadow and back into a solid form. He chuckled, "oh, this is definitely a power that I'm going to enjoy." He then continued to walk down the halls to his room.

* * *

Ember was travelling to the areas around Plasmius' Wisconsin portal. If he wasn't in the human world, then he was in the Ghost Zone. However, if he was in neither realm, well then her boyfriend would need to find a new boss. Maybe he could find a way to work for Walker part time. Then they could both get away with whatever they wanted. The rocker ghost shook her head. No, her boy-toy would never go for that. He could never force himself to do something that low and dishonourable. Plus, he had been locked up in that stupid jail with a lot of the other ghosts. He wasn't about to lose his cred here; that's why he wore his suit for ghosts sake!

After searching the area, Ember found no trace of the older hybrid. Not even a flash of white cloth, but then again, that could also be Walker and no one wants to be found by him. Ember shivered at the thought. The ghost warden had once asked her out before Skulker appeared out of nowhere and told him to stay away from her. At first she thought that it was just his way of protecting a fellow inmate from the nut-job, but later found out that the hunter ghost had a soft spot for her.

She found that they had a lot in common and decided to give it a try. She found that she liked the hunter too and they just stayed together. But man was it awkward when she saw his real form for the first time. They couldn't speak to each other for a week before she told him that she didn't care what his real form was as long as it wasn't anything like Bertrand's; the dude looks like a booger with arms and a face. Ember laughed; that's what she and the ghost boy called him. It just fit too well!

Back to the matter at hand, Ember hadn't found Big Daddy! So that either meant that he **was** in the human realm or was completely destroyed. Ember really hoped that it was the former of the two; she had just found the perfect nickname for the man that not only annoyed him, but felt right for her to say. She had tried calling him 'fruitloop' like Dipstick, but it didn't feel right.

Giving an exhausted sigh, the rocker ghost went to a nearby rock to wait and see if Skulker would show up soon. She started to strum her guitar when she got bored and the tune was that of the song "Freak the Freak Out". It may surprise some other residents to the Ghost Zone and more than likely those in the human world, but Ember McClain does in fact more than just her song "Remember".

After a few open bars of strumming, she started to sing and as she sang her rocker instincts came to the surface. She went all out. _"Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing. Open up the door, is it less, is it more?"_

She continued to sing when she saw the Box Ghost appear. Hopefully he would stick around._ "When you tell me to-"_

Box Ghost then jumped in – not noticing that she was singing – and yelled, "BEWARE!" before Ember took her guitar and hit him like a homerun. Surprisingly, that _was_ the next lyric, so Ember just continued where she left off, _"Are you here? Are you there? Is it something I should know? Easy come, easy go."_

By now, Ember was really into the music and was dancing around with her guitar as she continued to sing, _"Nodding your head, don't hear a word I said. I can't communicate, when you wait, don't relate. I try to talk to you, but you never even knew, so what's it gonna be? Tell me can you hear me?"_

Ember smiled as the chorus came up. She didn't even notice the three beings riding up to her on the path next to her little floating "stage".

"_I'm so sick of it, your attention deficit. Never listen, never listen. I'm so sick of it, so I'll throw another fit. Never listen, never listen. I scream your name, it always stays the same. I scream and shout, so what I'm gonna do now is __**freak**__ the __**freak**__ out, HEY! Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh,"_ she sang.

Ember took a breath to sing the next section but was surprised when another female voice spoke up instead. Ember was so startled that she nearly stopped playing; nearly. She had been so caught up in the song that she didn't even hear the motorcycle that had rolled up a few yards away from her. Johnny 13 and his bad luck shadow were leaning on the bike watching while Kitty had started the next line in the song.

"_Patience running thin, running thin; come again. Tell me what I get; Opposite, opposite. Show me what is real - If it breaks does it heal? Open up your ear. Why you think that I'm here? Keep me in the dark; are you even thinking of me?"_ Kitty sang with a surprisingly impressive voice.

Ember watched as the newcomer continued like she was singing her soul out. _"Is someone else above me; gotta know, gotta know. What am I gonna do? 'Cause I can't get through to you. So what's it gonna be? Tell me can you hear me?"_ the biker-girl ghost sang as she performed a small twirl.

Ember laughed at the turn of events and whispered, _"Can you hear me?"_

Kitty smiled and continued like the whole thing had been planned. _"I'm so sick of it, your attention deficit. Never listen, never listen. I'm so sick of it, so I'll throw another fit. Never listen, never listen. I scream your name, it always stays the same. I scream and shout, so what I'm gonna do now is __**freak**__ the __**freak**__ out, HEY! Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh."_

Then Ember joined back in and they both started to sing together. This was a new experience for both of them since 1. Ember usually sang alone – she was never good with sharing the spotlight – and 2. Kitty didn't usually sing. Sure, she did once in a while, but everyone knew her as the biker-girl!

Johnny watched along with Shadow and was actually amazed at what his girlfriend could do. He had heard her sing, but only when she thought no one was listening. The biker turned to his Shadow and whispered, "They're really good, right?" Shadow nodded in agreement.

"_Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh,"_ the two sang.

Ember played an interlude waiting for her cue. Then they branched off where Kitty sang, _"Easy come, easy go. Easy come, easy go."_

A little more music later and Ember whispered, _"Can you hear me?"_ Then they joined together again.

"_I scream your name, it always stays the same. I scream and shout, so what I'm gonna do now is __**freak **__the __**freak **__out, hey! Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh. Whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh, whoa oh oh oh."_

Kitty went off and continued to almost chant, _"__**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out! __**Freak**__ the __**freak **__out! __**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out! __**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out!"_ and said it after each new line as Ember sang the rest.

"_I scream your name (__**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out!). But you never listen (__**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out!). No you never listen (__**Freak**__ the __**freak**__ out!)" _Finally they came to the last few chords and sang softly, _"But you never listen."_ As the last chord rang through the air, the two stared before Kitty blushed whiter in embarrassment and Ember smiled like a kid in a candy store.

"Dude! That was amazing! I didn't know you could sing. Why didn't you tell me before?" Ember exploded in all her excitement at finding someone who could truly appreciate music like she did.

Kitty turned even whiter from embarrassment and stuttered, "No, I-I-I'm not that good."

Johnny walked over while clapping and said, "don't sell yourself short, Kitten. You have an amazing voice. Shadow agrees." Just to prove his point, Shadow nodded and gave a big, sharp, toothy grin.

Kitty couldn't contain her emotions and immediately hugged her boyfriend. Johnny was stunned but then smiled and said to himself, "I should say that to her the next time we end up in a fight!"

Ember shook her head and chuckled before asking, "So, what brings you two to this area? I doubt it's just to see little old me."

The biker couple nodded. "We were going over to this race track that we heard about to see if Johnny could wipe the floor with this guy calling himself "the fastest thing in the Ghost Zone"," Kitty said as they moved over to the bike.

"What are you doing here, rocker babe?" Johnny asked to which Kitty hit him. She was obviously the jealous type. "Ow! Kitten, you know that you're the only girl for me."

Kitty kept a glare on him since he was known to look at other girls and Ember was definitely in his age range. Ember laughed and then explained, "Don't be so rough on him, Kitty. I happen to have a boyfriend that I'm quite happy with."

Kitty relaxed a little, but kept giving warning glances to the two ghosts. "Well, to answer your question: I was over at Plasmius' with Skulker and I learned something quite interesting. But before I could spread it around, the old coot disappeared and we split up to try and find him. I came to look around here, but didn't find him and decided to wait for Skulker to return," the rocker ghost explained.

Johnny was thinking about what Ember had just told him, but thinking about the older hybrid made him think about the younger one; Danny Phantom/Fenton. They weren't exactly on bad terms, but neither were they on good terms either. Maybe he, Kitty and Shadow should pay him a visit to straighten things out and get on his good side. It would be kind of nice to be able to use the portable portal again and just show up to say hi instead of being blasted.

Little did Johnny know, but his two other companions were thinking the same thing. However, Kitty picked up on something else the rocker ghost had said. "Wait, what was so interesting? I could use a little gossip," Kitty said as her red eyes glowed in anticipation.

Ember smiled and asked, "You remember Dipstick, right?" When no one responded and all she got was blank looks she face-palmed and corrected herself, "I mean Phantom."

"Oh, yeah we know him. He stopped me from trading his sister with Kitty the first time we met, but he saved her right after that so that she didn't disappear. Then again when Kitty overshadowed a girl he liked and the two started dating to get on my nerves. He got me and Kitten back together but destroyed the portable portal I stole from his parents' lab," Johnny stated like it was yesterday.

Ember nodded and said, "Well, you see… wait, hold up. You dated Phantom's sister?" she asked pointing at the blond biker and then to his girlfriend, "and you dated the Dipstick?" when they both confirmed her statements, she broke into a laugh.

Johnny and Kitty frowned and grumbled, "Hey, Jazz/Danny was actually nice to date." Neither one heard the other though because of the rocker ghost's laughter prevented them from hearing it.

Ember finally calmed down and said, "Sorry, but that was too good. Anyways, turns out that the Dipstick got himself caught by the Guys in White." Johnny, Kitty and Shadow all cringed at the statement. "Yeah, I know, right? So, turns out that Skulker was there and ran to Plasmius to tell him about it. The dude got so mad and just left. Next thing I know, Skulker's telling me that Phantom is staying at the old man's place until he heals completely."

"How did Danny look? Did you see him at all? Is he even really there?" Kitty started firing questions.

Ember blinked before she said, "In order: the kid looks pretty ok if you ask me; yeah, I saw him and he just looked pissed as usual when he sees Plasmius; and I think my last two statements shows that he's really there."

Kitty sighed in relief before asking with a smirk on her face, "You're going to spread this around, aren't you?"

Ember returned the smile and replied, "Yep. Only thing is, Big Daddy put a catch on allowing me to do so. I have to tell anyone I tell that Amity is being taken as part of Plasmius' territory until Dipstick returns to his post. That and if anyone decides to attack the town, the have to deal with him personally."

Johnny got on his bike while Shadow reconnected with the biker. He revved the engines and waited for Kitty to hop on. Kitty put up one finger to show that she just needed a minute. Johnny nodded and lounged on the seat of the bike.

Kitty turned back to the rocker ghost and asked, "Do you want some help in spreading this around? I know several ghosts that may want to know about Danny's current condition."

Ember looked the biker-girl over trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. From the sound of it, Kitty and Johnny didn't have that bad a relationship with Phantom so saying yes could mean that either they would tell the kid's allies only or just anyone they came across. Ember shrugged to herself and thought, _"why not? If one of his enemies shows up, he can handle it. Either that or Big Daddy will."_

Ember smiled and replied, "Sure, go ahead; makes it easier on me." With that, the trio of ghost bikers raced away to the supposed race track leaving Ember alone again. She was about to head home herself and forget about waiting for Skulker when he flew through the portal and floated by her side.

"Sorry it took so long. Turns out that Plasmius did get a new power and had been in the castle the whole time. Anything happen while I was gone?" Skulker asked hoping above all hope that his girlfriend wasn't too pissed with him.

Ember shook her head and said, "nah. I just made friends with Johnny 13 and Kitty – mostly Kitty. I'm tired. Mind if I crash at your place tonight? Mine is just too far away."

Skulker sighed in relief and nodded his head. Ember wrapped an arm around his mechanical one and the two started to float back to the hunter's island. "So, ya gonna tell me about that new power Big Daddy has?"

Skulker chuckled and told her about his employer's new power, that he had to find someone who may know something about controlling it, and how the whelp had a power he didn't quite know about. One thing was for sure; he wanted to see it for himself.

As her boyfriend talked, Ember had one thing run through her mind; Danny and Vlad were about to get a bunch of unwanted visitors, and she had a front row seat!

* * *

**Second disclaimer: the song "Freak the Freak Out!" is sung by Victoria Justice.**

* * *

**Phantom: Hey guys. So, very interesting powers. When I thought about the power that Vlad was going to get, I literally read through more than ten Fanfics that Trainer and I had read in the past looking for inspiration. This shadow power though was one I thought of when reading back on some of my more recent chapters. It sort of stuck with me and I think it fits him perfectly.**

**Trainer: Yeah, we thought of things like perfecting his portal ability, shape shifting, mind reading; but none of them felt right.**

**Phantom: Um, Trainer? Is that a magic 8 ball?**

**Trainer: *smiles innocently* yes, it is. Do you want to give it a try?**

**Phantom: sure, why not? Will I get an awesome review from someone who hasn't given me one yet?**

***Trainer shakes the 8 ball***

**8 Ball: No.**

**Phantom: What?! Oh, who cares? These things are stupid anyways. Stupid.**

***Shake***

**8 Ball: I know you are but what am I?**

**Phantom: You are! You're just an 8 ball!**

***Shake***

**8 Ball: So what?**

**Phantom: *grabs the 8 ball and throws it to the other side of the room* Grr… that was the **_**Sarcastic 8 Ball**_** wasn't it?**

**Trainer: Yep! Dave n' Busters had it, remember?**

**Phantom: Yeah, and it answered everything I said just like it did a few seconds ago. I both love it and hate it.**

**Trainer: Yeah, Dan gave it to me.**

**Phantom: DAAAAAAAAAN!**

**Dan: Don't worry, I'll torture Trainer later. Until next time. Please review and tell these girls what you think about another chapter without yours truly in it.**


End file.
